Staley Tennis is currently between its winter and spring sessions as the COVID-19/Coronavirus pandemic has struck our community and the world. We just finished our final winter session of Junior Group Drills Wednesday evening, just before the shutdowns and cancellations began.
Spring academy sessions are scheduled to begin on April 13, 2020. At this point, we are not going to cancel or delay the start, but will be actively following news from local health officials on making future decisions.
Our top priority is the health and safety of our academy and club players and families. We will consider limiting or cancelling group drills, postponing club events and other measures to make sure we are adhering to public policies to contain the spread of the virus. But at this time, with a month between winter and spring sessions and club season, we feel it’s too early to make any rational decisions to cancel or postpone any programs or events.
Our first UTR club event of 2020 is scheduled for April 18th. Again, at this time we plan to go forward with the event unless otherwise directed and this will also be based on further developments locally on the spread of COVID-19.
Since schools have closed, we have received many inquiries from parents to schedule private lessons with Coach Staley beginning next week. We will be posting a schedule of dates/times he will be available starting next week. At this time, we will hold no group sessions of more than 4 players and also take extra precautions to protect both our players and coach.
We are monitoring the ongoing situation with not only local health officials, but recommendations from USPTA, UTR and USTA. Here are the latest postings from UTR and USTA concerning the national emergency:
Official Universal Tennis Statement on COVID-19
USTA tips and recommendations for facilities and players, regarding COVID-19
We realize that our academy players can get in extra training during this time and that the nature of our sport lends nicely to social distancing when it comes to private training. It’s 1-on-1, mostly from a distance, and Coach Staley adheres to all of the standard criteria that the United States Professional Tennis Association sets for its coaches.
While tennis can be a great distractor from the issues we now face during this pandemic, we want to make sure it’s offered with the utmost care for players, coaches and extended family members.
Lastly and most importantly, our thoughts go out to everyone during these trying times, but we’re optimistic that we’ll be back on the courts without further constraints in the near future!
If you have questions or concerns, please feel free to contact us at any time.
Staley Tennis is a Northern Indiana-based tennis training academy for juniors and a professional verified UTR club for both juniors and adults. For more information on joining this club and playing in future leagues and tournaments, please visit the official Staley Tennis Club site.
