We had a flash of warm weather but Fall is upon us and that means the end of our outdoor tennis season...

Club Closing

The club will be closing on Wednesday October 26; this will be the last day of play. We will try to keep the clubhouse open for as long as possible, but this may depend on the City's schedule for the water shut off.

Windscreens/Nets Down Date

We plan to remove windscreens and nets on Saturday October 29 (Sunday October 30 as the rain date). If you are interested in volunteering, please contact our Premises Director at: premises@unionvilletennisclub.ca. High school students are welcomed to help out for volunteer hours.

Stay tuned for the announcement of our AGM and lets enjoy the courts while we still can!

We are into fall and sadly our tennis season is coming to an end. But it has been a very happy year at UTC! A near normal one, compared to the last couple, and a very successful one with very high participation in all our programs including juniors, teams, tournaments, recreation,and lessons.

However, it has been too long since we have had an opportunity to enjoy a larger group social event such as our Opening Days. Your Executive has decided that we should have a late season celebration to make up for some of that which we have missed.

We are happy to announce a UTC Year-End Celebration for Saturday, October 1 from 4pm to 8pm. Rain date will be Sunday, October 2.

The event will feature:
- a selection of complementary food from The Great Canadian Food Truck
- a clinic run by Andy Sutton's team an exhibition match between some of UTC's high level players
- an organized Round Robin
- a bag of special goodies for all registered attendees and door prizes

Although the health situation and outlook has been promising, we are still being cautious by limiting the event to 75 adult participants (young adults included) on a first come, first served basis through registrations.
We hope that our juniors enjoyed our monthly junior events with their parents throughout the summer and don't feel snubbed that we have an event for just the older crowd.

To see a detailed schedule of the event click here.

Registration for the event opens on: Monday September 26 at noon.
Click on the button below to access the registration form then.

PLEASE NOTE:with limited spaces, please only register if you are sure to attend. If you register and your plans change, please send a message to yearendevent@unionvilletennisclub.ca to allow another member to take your place. We appreciate your consideration.

Volunteers help make our events run smoothly. Please offer your support to help run this event to: yearendevent@unionvilletennisclub.ca.

We hope for good weather and fun for all!

Volunteer Appreciation Event

UTC has always relied on our dedicated volunteers and while we had planned for an event over the last couple of years, to thank our volunteers, unfortunately they had to be postponed for health and safety reasons. But, we are determined to make this happen! Once the details are finalized, which will be soon, we will be reaching out to our volunteers who have helped us throughout the past couple of years to invite them to a special event.

Calling All Our Green Champs!

Since becoming "green" many years ago, UTC has been refurbishing used trophies with the help of Markham Trophy. Every year, we collect unwanted trophies from our members who are tired of dusting them!
Please let Lorraine, our super green helper, know if you would like to donate some of your trophies to the club. They do NOT have to be tennis trophies, all shapes and sizes are welcomed!
If you do, you can either
- bring them to the club
- get in touch with Lorraine for pick or delivery at: utccourtcoordinator@gmail.com
Thank you everybody and good luck to those in the Mixed Doubles Tournament!

The registration for the Year End Singles and Junior Singles Tournaments is open! We are thrilled with the high turnout so far and excited to see who will be this year's champtions will be!

2022 UTC Doubles & Mixed Doubles Championship Tournament

The Doubles & Mixed Tournament will take place from Thursday, September 15 to 20 & 22 to 27 respectively. Registration is open to all UTC Adult members (juniors who play on an Adult Intercounty evening team can join the tournament). All teams are guaranteed at least 2 matches. The registration deadline is Tuesday September 12 and 19 at 8:00 PM, respectively . The registration fee is $8 per player, which covers the cost of balls, and should be paid at the Clubhouse prior to your first match.

To sign up, please access the registration pages by the following links Doubles registration form and Mixed Doubles registration form or visit our Tournaments web page.

All tournament schedules will be announced two days prior to the match start date. All players will be notified of their start time via email.

For any questions about the tournament, please email the organizers at: tournaments@unionvilletennisclub.ca

Membership ID and Bag Tags

Some of you may have seen some members with bright yellow bag tags with the UTC logo and their membership ID card inserted. This is a pilot test program to help monitors quickly confirm membership and also offer a non-digital alternative for those members less electronically inclined. Reception has been very positive so far. If you would like to obtain a bag tag with your membership ID inserted, please send a request to: utcbagtag@unionvilletennisclub.ca.
We ordered a limited initial supply, but more are on their way!

**Name Entries on the Online Booking System**

Starting in August, bookings with only 1 name will receive a reminder to add their partners names. If they are not entered by noon 2 days before the court booking, the court will be released.

Friday All-day Whiteboard Booking & Whiteboard Booking Update

Starting Friday August 5th, we will be introducing all-day whiteboard booking (in-person booking at the clubhouse) on Fridays. Please refer to the instructions and rules for whiteboard booking here, a copy will also be placed on the whiteboard at the clubhouse for everyone’s reference. These rules will apply on Fridays all-day and on Saturday evenings (6-11pm).
On the online booking system, you will see the courts blocked off for whiteboard booking with the following icon:

Please note that the duration for court bookings for singles (less than 4 players) will be 45 minutes during white board booking times (Friday and Saturdays).
The board has decided on this to reduce volunteer workload and ensure rules are followed. Based on feedback from our members and the capabilities of a community club, the board will be planning the future of court bookings for next season.

National Bank Open

The National Bank Open will start in just a few days and a lot of big name players are coming to Toronto. UTC members can take advantage of discounts on tickets for the open by using the promo code: 22NBUNIONVILLE through the Ticketmaster website. Choose the applicable session, enter the promo code and hit apply! You can also call 1-877-283-6647 ext. 1 or email tickets@tenniscanada.com to purchase tickets with the promo code.

UTC Promo Code

A message from the Board

We have received some feedback regarding the online booking system and the court availability. While we appreciate the input, we would like our members to understand that we are trying to balance the needs of all of our members, be it the casual random player, those taking lessons to improve their skills, recreational players interested in our programs, competitive players on our teams etc. and we are not trying to prioritize a certain group of players over others. We have worked on and continue to work on ways to increase and balance utilization of our courts.
We thank you for your continued support and understanding while the volunteers work hard to not only keep our club operating day to day but also to plan improvements for the future at our great club.

Even though the ICTA Junior Leagues regular season is coming to an end, there are still additional opportunities for juniors to participate in team tennis events throughout the summer.

A brand new three-way partnership with the Inter County Tennis Association, Ontario Tennis Association & Tennis Canada, presents the 2022 Tennis ROCKS Festival for Junior players from across the GTA. This year's festival will have THREE Host Sites, along with the chance to qualify and play at the Sobeys Stadium in September. Food, Prizes, Giveaways, Smash Cage and some fantastic tennis awaits players, parents and fans!
Saturday July 9 - Don Mills Tennis Club
Saturday July 23 - Unionville Tennis Club
Saturday August 13 - Milton Tennis Club
CHAMPIONSHIPS in September - TBA

There will be 2 waves (AM & PM) for each event:
1) AM: Superstars (U12)
2) PM: All Stars (U14 & U18)

Click on the button below to access the document that includes:
1. Tennis ROCKS Festival Details
2. Tennis ROCKS Entry Form
3. Tennis ROCKS Facts Sheet

Please submit the completed form and process the payment by following the steps in the Festival Details section

Unionville Tennis Club special discount!

We're excited to offer a 50% discount for UTC teams registering to the Unionville Tennis Club event on Saturday July 23.
Prior to submitting the registration form and payment to ICTA and OTA respectively, please notify juniors@unionvilletennisclub.ca with the list of UTC team members to be eligible for the discounted price.

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to reach out to juniors@unionvilletennisclub.ca. SPACE is very limited as each event will be limited to 8 teams per wave! The registration deadline for each event is the Sunday prior to the actual event.

After a two year hiatus due to COVID-19, UTC is excited to welcome back the "Ontario Tennis Association Under 18 Boys and Girls Outdoor Provincial Championships" to our club on: June 27th to July 2nd!

The top 64 junior girl and boy players will be playing for the 2022 Ontario Championship, as well as the opportunity to play in the Canadian Championships. These elite players are wonderful to watch and to be admired for the effort they put in to get to this level. They will be playing on all of our hard courts from 7:00am to 5:00pm each day, Monday through Saturday. Semi-Finals and Finals are played on Championship Saturday.

This means that all daytime recreational programs will be cancelled that week. Team play has been arranged to be played away. Please note that the clay courts will be available for free play on the tournament dates.

The clay courts can be booked through the online booking system from 7am to 12pm (1pm on Wednesday, 11am on Saturday) and then they will be closed for clay court maintenance and reopen for in-person/whiteboard booking from 2pm (3pm on Wednesday, 1pm on Saturday) until 5pm.
Please refer to the online court booking system to see when clay courts can be booked online or open for in-person booking with the monitor on duty.

Evening tennis will run as usual.

Please also note: there will be no public court hours on Tuesday June 28.

We hope that you get a chance to watch these terrific young tennis players!

Thank you for your patience and understanding while we went through the construction of getting all of our light fixtures replaced. A big thank you to our Premises Director, Rila Levine, for coordination with the City of Markham and contractors to get everything done!
Now that the club is fully operational, we will be reintroducing our court booking rules and public hours, please read the changes carefully, they will be put into effect Monday June 6 at 7AM.

Are you up to challenge others and climb up the UTC ladder? The UTC Mens & Ladies Ladder starts May 24! Check out the website to register and start challenging fellow members. Good luck to the participants! We'll see who will be at the top this year!

We are excited to announce 2 amazing events for our members!

The first event is for our adult members:

UTC X Yonex, Sunday May 29, 12-4pm

UTC will be hosting an event sponsored by Yonex for our adult members! The team from Yonex will have a line of demo racquets for our members to try out while taking part in programs organized with the help of our coaching staff. They will also have exciting giveaways for attendees! If you ever wanted to try a Yonex racquet and speak with an expert, this is the event for you!
Click on the link below to register for the event!

Please note registration is open (and free!!) to all 2022 UTC adult members but we may cut off registration based on the number of registrations.
This event is for our adult and young adults members (and older juniors who are able to maintain a rally), but don't fret juniors, we have a fun event for you too, keep reading to find out more!

UTC Junior Monthly Event #2

Designed in collaboration with our Tennis Director, Andy Sutton.

The 2nd event we have lined up is:
Sunday June 5th, 12pm to 2pm
Child/Parent* - Fun Competition Games
* - or an Adult Relative
- Mixture of fun and competition through challenging team games with point play.
- A variety of challenges: children vs. parents, child/parent teaming, and children+Pros vs. parents.
- Juniors! Get ready to show them what the next generation is capable of!
- Recommended level/age: beginner/intermediate of all ages

The Events planned for July and August can be found on our website.

Every UTC Junior member, girls and boys, are welcomed to register for all sessions based on the recommended level/age.
Each session is free of charge, and will be supervised by our Tennis Instructors.

Registration for the June Event is now open!
We have limited spots, click on the button below to register.

Thanks to the hard work of our Premises Director, the City of Markham officials, and the electricians, all of the light fixture have been installed on the light poles that were replaced! (Court 5 lights will be updated soon!)
Which means that evening tennis is ON starting Friday May 20!

Court bookings are now open from 7am to 10pm for the hard courts and the clay courts will be closed at 9pm for maintenance. Except for Tuesday and Thursday evenings.

Your Membership ID

Please follow the instructions in this tutorial to access your membership ID to show the monitor when you arrive at the club. Membership ID Tutorial

Get Excited, Events are Coming Back!

Keep an eye out for an email on Saturday May 21 for the 2 events planned for our members!

A lot has been going on at the club besides playing tennis, and we appreciate everyone's understanding and patience. We are happy to announce that sprinklers have been fixed and the clay courts will be available for play on Saturday May 14th!
Clay court booking availability will be announced in the email blast.

Please keep in mind that the clay courts will need to be maintained at certain times of the day and will not be available for booking and indicated on the online booking system.

The light installation is still ongoing and during the day, the electricians may ask you to move courts, this may mean moving from a hard court to a clay court, or vice versa. Available court surfaces may be limited while the lights are unavailable and programs running along with clay court maintenance, please bear with us.

Parking Lot Protocols for Sundays between 8:30am and Noon

Just a reminder that the parking lot is the property of Unionville Presbyterian Church, which it is glad to share with UTC.
The church has asked that UTC members follow these simple rules:
- Park at the west end of the parking lot - at the end away from the church
- Park only in designated parking spots
- No parking in the church driveway or any other undesignated areas
- If needed, other parking options are on Village Parkway or in the lot at the north end of the park accessible by Carlton Rd.

Let’s be good neighbours to the church. Your cooperation is greatly appreciated!

What's in a Name?

When booking courts, please enter the names of all the members who will be present to play, to help the monitors do their job. Thank you to those who are doing this!

Get Excited, Events are Coming Back!

For the past 2 years we haven't had any events, so we're excited to announce that events are being planned for our members. First up is a special event in collaboration with Yonex on Sunday May 29th, we'll announce details soon!

We are happy to have the club open and see everyone come out to play tennis!
During the winter unfortunately our phone line and internet connection was disrupted, currently calls cannot be received by the monitor when they are on duty, and they are also unable to check the online booking system on the computer. If you are going to the club to play, please remember the court number and times.

The technicians will be coming by on Monday to hopefully fix them both. In the meantime, please email any questions to info@unionvilletennisclub.ca.

Thank you for your continued patience, after many delays, we are happy to announce that: UTC will open on Friday May 6th!
Unfortunately, the work for changing the light fixtures is not complete, so the club will only be operating from 7am to 8pm until further notice.

Please take note of the following important changes:
- During the day, the contractors may ask you to move to a different court to work on installing the lights, please follow their directions, there will be a court available to move to.
- There are no lights, so the club will be closing at 8pm with no exceptions. We hope this will not be for too long.
- Court bookings will be made for 2 days in advance instead of the usual 7 while we monitor the progress of the construction.
- The court booking cancellation is temporarily changed to 24hours and members are given 1 active court booking during the reduced booking window.
- Every court booking has the risk of cancellation with short notice due to the ongoing construction.
- Programs, competitive play and group lessons are further delayed or altered, the respective organizers will communicate to the participants involved.

We hope you are all just as excited to get on the courts!
The online booking system will open Thursday May 5 at 9am!

The City of Markham is updating our court surface lights to LED fixtures, and this was hoping to have been completed before the club opening. Unfortunately, due to the delay in the delivery of material and inclement weather, the progress for changing the lights was slowed. This week we are finally seeing work done on replacing the poles and the City of Markham official is confident that the club will be able to open on May 7th

We will make an announcement when the online booking system will open up closer to the date.

The clay courts will open shortly after and we will announce when they will be available for online booking also.

Recreational programs, Inter County tryouts & group lessons

All programs that were scheduled from May 2 to 6 will unfortunately be cancelled, with the exception of the tryouts. The respective organizers will reach out to the affected participants.
If you have any questions, please reach out to the respective individuals:
Recreational programs: recreational@unionvilletennisclub.ca
Inter County teams: teams@unionvilletennisclub.ca
Group Lessons: tennisdirector@unionvilletennisclub.ca

We appreciate your continued patience and understanding regarding the delay in opening the club.

Our 2022 adult membership is already very close to the level at which we finally suspended it last year. We felt this was an appropriate level to support all programs and optimize court availability. It was also consistent with OTA guidelines.

As a result, we have decided to suspend all Adult membership registration on: Friday March 25 at 11:59pm
Only junior membership will remain open after this date.

We will continue to monitor the situation on an ongoing basis.

Please note: tryout registrations are now closed, we will see those registered on the dates assigned to them

Are you interested in playing in a competitive tennis league? Join one of our Inter County teams!
UTC is a member of the Inter County Tennis Association (ICTA) which is an inter-club league. The club's competitive members play for 14 weeks (from mid-May to August) travelling to surrounding clubs.
Below are the tryout dates and times for each of the teams, along with the rain dates:

We've sprung forward to hopefully more sun, higher temperatures and closer to the outdoor tennis season! We are happy to announce that the:

Spring Group Lesson Programs & Summer Camps are Open for Registration!

Andy Sutton and his team are back this spring with:
- Junior group lessons
- Summer camp
- Adult group lessons
- Private lessons

Click on the button below to access the group lesson registration page:

Register Today!

Please note:Membership is required for lesson registrations.
Please also note:Registration for the 2022 Junior High Performance Training Program will be open later based on news of the Junior Intercounty season for 2022.

Stay tuned for an announcement on Intercounty team tryouts!

It's been a long winter full of snow. But we hope you are all excited for the upcoming season of tennis at UTC because...

MEMBERSHIP IS OPEN ON MARCH 7 FOR THE 2022 SEASON!

Join Now!

Once again, membership fees remain unchanged this year. Early Bird rates are available until May 2, 2022. For a detailed fee schedule, please see the Membership page.

Our membership registration is using PayPal as payment processing, we accept payment from your credit cards or your favourite PayPal account. Please see our Registration Instructions.

Should you have any registration related inquiries, please feel free to contact membership@unionvilletennisclub.ca.

LIMITED MEMBERSHIP

You may recall that membership registration was suspended last year, we will be monitoring our membership numbers. But to avoid any disappointments, we encourage you to register early.

RULES OF PLAY & COURT BOOKING POLICY IMPROVEMENTS

In an effort to make the court booking fair for all of our members, the following changes will be made this season:
- The online booking system will permit 2 rolling active bookings per member (details can be found under "Active Booking System" in the Rules of Play & Court Booking Policy).
- Court session durations will be reverted back to 60 minutes.

RECREATIONAL PROGRAMS, LESSONS & COMPETITIVE PLAY

We expect these programs will be in full swing this season!
- Registration for Wednesday Round Robin opens March 7, access the registration page here
- Junior and Adult Group Lesson registrations will open up very soon! We will announce when the registration page can be accessed.
- Details for the Intercounty season will be announced as they become available.

JUNIORS GET EXCITED!

Junior programs are expected to be back for 2022: junior intercounty matches, tournaments, lessons, camps and our Junior Program Director is planning some Special Monthly Events for juniors of all levels! Stay tuned for more information in our future email blasts.

OTHER INFORMATION

Currently, we do not know the rules and regulations that will be put in place at the club by the City, once they become clear, we will communicate them to our members.

We look forward to having everyone back for another terrific tennis season. Stay tuned for an announcement on when nets and wind screens go up!

The AGM of UTC will be held virtually on Saturday, November 20, 2021 on Zoom starting at 4pm. The AGM is open to 2021 UTC members only, and access to the Zoom program or app is required to attend.
The agenda for the AGM is now available, with a special guest appearance from our Tennis Director! Visit the AGM page for details. Make sure you're registered for the event!

Proposed Slate of Directors 2021-2022:

** In accordance with our Bylaws, since no nominations for these positions were received within the required time limit, these positions are declared as elected.
Alternative candidates for all other positions may be nominated from the floor at the meeting.

To register to attend the 2021 AGM, click the button below:

Only registered 2021 UTC members can register to attend the meeting.

If you have any questions, please email Moe Otsubo.

The end of the outdoor tennis season means, it's time for UTC's AGM! Please join us virtually for this year's AGM on Saturday November 20, 2021 at 4pm!

From the comfort of your home, joining us virtually through Zoom! There is no Year End Party again this year, but we will try to have a bit of fun!
The AGM is a key event for you to find out what and who makes UTC the great club that it is. It's also an opportunity for you to ask questions and give your feedback. We want to know what you think. A healthy club needs the support and interest of all its members in both big and small ways to thrive and improve.
The AGM will also include a virtual awards presentation. The winners will be announced and they will be contacted by organizers for the award pick-up.
Attendance is free, members will have to register and join the meeting though the Zoom app or the program using either a computer or a smartphone/tablet device. The meeting is open to 2021 UTC members only.

Proposed Slate of Officers 2021-2022:

** The bylaws allow for alternative candidates to be nominated for these officer positions, provided the nomination is received in writing no later than ten days prior to the meeting. Nominations can be sent to Margaret Mackenzie.We are still working on the full slate of directors, and it will be presented at the AGM.

The email blast sent on October 23, 2021, serves as a formal notice of our AGM. A detailed agenda will be sent out at a later date.

To register to attend the 2021 AGM, click the button below:

Only registered 2021 UTC members can register to attend the meeting.

If you have any questions, please email Moe Otsubo.

We hope to see you virtually!

Member Appreciation Day

In recognition of the great season that we have had in spite of the COVID challenges, we are declaring this Thursday, October 14 as Member Appreciation Day. As a token of appreciation, balls will be provided free of charge during monitored hours on Thursday on the following basis:
- one can of balls per group of players (1 session booked =1 free can; 2 sessions booked = 1 free can)
- obtain your free can from the monitor on duty
- while supplies last
- in case of rain, Member Appreciation Day will carry over to the next day(s)
- the decisions of monitors are final

Club Closing

The club will be closing on Wednesday October 27; this is the last day of play. This means the last day to book a court is 7 days earlier (October 20). We will try to keep the clubhouse open for as long as possible, but this may depend on the City's schedule for the water shut off. Clay courts will be closed at the same time as hard courts.

Windscreens/Nets Down Dates

We plan to remove windscreens and nets from October 28-30. We are asking for small groups of volunteers to help. In order to comply with Covid Protocols, groups of 4 or 5 would be ideal. If you are able to help, please contact president@unionvilletennisclub.ca. Please let us know the day and time you would be available.

Annual General Meeting (AGM) - November 20

Our AGM will be on Saturday November 20. As last year, the event will be virtual. We will provide you with more detailed information as the date approaches.

Executive Board Positions

We are already planning for next year! And we hope it will be Covid free. There will be a few board positions open and we are looking for volunteers to help with planning and operating UTC. Please consider volunteering time to help organize and operate this wonderful club of ours. If you are interested, please contact president@unionvilletennisclub.ca. We need you!

Last, But Far From Least...

We owe a tremendous amount to all our volunteers who make the club work the way it does, whether you are supporting IT, premises, programs, teams, helping on the exec, etc etc, this club works because of you, and we all thank you!

It may not feel like it, but summer is slowly winding down. That means the announcement of our Year-End Tournament!
Join as many of our Year-End Tournaments as you like! The deadlines to enter as below:

2021 UTC Singles Championship Tournament

The Singles Tournament will take place from Thursday, September 9 to Sunday, September 12.  Registration is now open to all UTC Adult members (juniors who play on an Adult Intercounty evening team can join the tournament).  All players are guaranteed at least 2 matches.  The registration deadline is Tuesday September 7 at 6:00 PM.  The registration fee is $8 per player, which covers the cost of balls, and should be paid at the Clubhouse at sign up time or no later than Tuesday September 7.
There are two ways to register:
1. At the UTC clubhouse with the monitor on duty using the sign-up sheet
2. Through the registration form.

All tournament schedules will be announced and posted at the clubhouse two days prior. All players will be notified of their start time via email.

Registration for the Fall Junior Clinics are now open! Details can be found on the Junior Group Lessons page.

Access the registration page below:

AS PER THE WEEK OF AUGUST 9 2021, THE WEDNESDAY MORNING IN-PERSON/DROP-IN BOOKING HAS BEEN TERMINATED, AND NOW REVERSED BACK TO ONLINE BOOKING.

We are announcing a change to Wednesday Morning court availability. In response to member feedback and Intercounty teams’ issues, we are trying a new approach on Wednesday mornings.

Starting August 4, between 9:30am - 1:15pm, on-line court booking will be unavailable. Instead...

• - At 9:30am, 3 courts will be available for in-person random play on a first come, first serve basis (like the old days!).
• - Starting at around 11:00am, additional courts will become available for in-person play, depending on completion of team matches.
• - Minimum play time: Singles: 45 minutes Doubles: 1 hour. And, you can play on until somebody else replaces you!
• - Please present your shoe tag to the monitor for contact tracing requirements.
• - At 1:15pm, courts will return to the online booking system.

This is a pilot program that will be monitored and will either be terminated, extended or possibly expanded to other time slots.

We have now entered Step 3 of the province's reopening plan. We also have some updates to our rules and upcoming changes to the online booking system.
PLEASE READ THE FOLLOWING INFORMATION THOROUGHLY & REVIEW THE RULES OF PLAY & COVID PROTOCOLS ON OUR WEBSITE.

COVID Rules:

• - Do no enter the premises if you have any COVID symptoms and/or have been in contact with someone who has COVID.
• - Maintain 2 metres distancing while on the premises.
• - Face coverings are required except when playing tennis.
• - The clubhouse is open but please maintain 2 metres distancing with others while inside (with face covering).
• - Contract tracing is ongoing; YOU MUST ENTER ALL PLAYERS NAMES ON THE COURT BOOKING ONLINE.
• - Limit of 10 spectators in designated areas; north and south decks. All spectators must sign-in and provide name and phone numbers for contract tracing purposes.

Online Booking Rules & Rules of Play:

• - Enter all member names when booking a court. Failure to do so may result in booking penalties. This is required for contact tracing purposes, as mandated by government authorities. Any booking with only one name will be cancelled at noon on the day prior to the date of play.
• - No guests are allowed (unless for ICTA matches). Only members listed on the court bookings will be permitted on courts.
• - Each member may only book one session per day online.
• - SINGLES: NO consecutive plays of singles allowed.
• - DOUBLES: 2 consecutive sessions may be booked online by 2 different members. MAXIMUM OF 2 consecutive sessions.
• -No combination of consecutive singles followed by doubles or vice versa. Also, no combination of consecutive play that includes Round Robin or team play.
• - No juniors on the courts after 6:30pm unless playing with an adult.
• - CANCELLATIONS: you must cancel the courts 48 hours prior to the booked time. Cancellations with the monitor under 48 hours will incur an infraction, multiple infractions will result in booking penalties. No-shows will be penalized.
• - RAIN OUTS will not be penalized. Email notifications will be sent to the court booking member if the courts are not playable. All courts will be cancelled for 3 hours in the event of steady rain fall and the monitor will not be on duty at the clubhouse. For light drizzle and intermittent rain, please feel free to call the clubhouse for further information but please note that the club monitors cannot squeegee all 6 courts within 45 minutes on their own. Clay courts may be unusable for longer periods of time, depending on the severity of the rain fall.
• - Please DO NOT use the clay courts after a heavy rain fall, particularly if there are puddles on the courts; this damages the clay courts. Do not use any courts that have not been properly maintained as this may result in personal injury or damage to courts.

*NEW* Limit of Active Booking System

We will also be introducing a "Limit of Active Booking" system soon to improve playing experiences. Please watch out for the details of this improved booking system.

We will open junior membership registration to those on the waitlist. To be considered to join the club (juniors only ages 5-17) please enter the information of the junior and contact information on our waitlist.
Access the waitlist here

The waitlist will be closed on July 13 at 11:59pm. Those juniors who are interested in joining the club, who are on the waitlist, will be contacted via email.

Thank you for your interest in the club and we will continue to consider opening up membership for adults as we continue to monitor the court usages.

Suspending Additional Membership Registration

In the continued effort to avoid the club becoming even busier, and with the introduction of programs and competitive team play, we are now temporarily suspending the acceptance of additional membership registration (including junior membership), effective immediately.
If you are interested in joining the club, please sign up on our waiting list. We will reach out to you if and when we start accepting more members.

As the Covid-19 outlook continues to improve, we are reintroducing programs in anticipation of government approvals, hopefully coming soon. Both the Friday morning mixed Round Robin and Wednesday evening mixed Round Robin will start when permitted, start dates will be announced via e-blast. Details of both these adult recreational programs can be found under UTC Adult Recreational Programs.

Friday Morning Mixed Round Robin

The Friday program requires no overall registration, weekly registration is handled by email request to the coordinator.

Wednesday Evening Mixed Round Robin

The Wednesday program requires prior registration and payment, which is now available at Wednesday Round Robin. Full details of the Wednesday program are available in this Wednesday RR Guide. As this is a popular program with 2 evening sessions each Wednesday, early registration is recommended to secure your slot.

Calling All Competitive New Members of UTC!

Are you a new member at UTC? (Welcome!) Have you played competitively in an intercounty league in the past? Then we want to hear from you!
If you are interested in joining one of our Mixed, Ladies or 55+ intercounty teams, please email our Teams Director at teams@unionvilletennisclub.ca .

An update and reminder of some of our rules

- Members may use the clubhouse washrooms but must wear masks inside the clubhouse. There is a maximum of 5 people in the clubhouse.
- Participants of group lessons, both junior and adult will NOW enter and exit through the gate on court 9. Please ensure that you have completed your Covid screening questions. And there are no spectators allowed.
- There are many last minute court cancellations. Please be respectively of your fellow members and cancel well before the deadline.

Summer Camp Registrations are Now Open!

We are pleased to announce that registration for summer camps are now open!

Get all the details on the Junior Summer Camp page.

The registration page can be accessed here .

Suspending Additional Membership Registration

In an effort to avoid the club becoming even busier, we have temporarily suspended accepting additional adult and family membership registration, effective immediately.
Only junior membership will be accepted at this time.
If you are interested in joining the club, please sign up on our waiting list. We will reach out to you if and when we start accepting more members.

Registration is now open for tennis lessons! Andy Sutton and his team are back with:
- Junior Group Lessons
- Adult Group Lessons
- Private Lessons

Check out the junior group lessons here .
Check out the adult group lessons here.

Please note:
Group lessons are scheduled to start June 14th, pending government permission. If the government does not allow this start date, your fees can be refunded or applied as credit to a future program, your choice.

Access the registration page here

Thank you to our volunteers and members for following the guidelines.

JUST A FRIENDLY REMINDER!:

- Juniors are not permitted to play past 6:30pm, without an accompanying adult also playing on the court.
- No lessons of any kind are allowed on the courts. We expect this will change on June 14th.
- Respect the clay court maintenance schedule and allow monitors to do their required duties.
- Ensure you complete the COVID pre-screening form prior to entering the club. 

PROGRAMS

Information regarding programs will be coming soon! Information will be announced in an email blast and will be posted on the website.

Thank you!

Your board members and volunteers are working quickly and diligently to get the club up and running so we can all get back on to the courts. We announced yesterday that clay courts were not ready to be played on. As of this afternoon, the clay courts are ready for your aces and your down the line winners! (or even just some causal mini tennis)
Head on to our online booking site to book a clay court this long weekend! Please note that there are maintenance times that will make the clay courts unavailable at certain time slots throughout the day. These times are blocked off in the online booking system.

JUST A FRIENDLY REMINDER!:

- Members playing singles cannot book courts online for consecutive sessions. Please consult the Rules of Play for details.
- The gate on court 9 is no longer used as an exit (or entrance), please do not use this gate, instead please enter and exit through the main gate by court 1. 

Visit our website often to see updates and if you haven’t joined, you can do so by clicking the button below.

Join Now!

GROUNDSKEEPER

We are still seeking to hire a groundskeeper for our club. If you or someone you know is interested in maintaining the club premises and clay courts, please contact: president@unionvilletennisclub.ca for more details.

Things are moving quickly, on very short notice!  
The province has announced that tennis is now finally permitted.  This is great news and your UTC executive and staff are working hard to prepare for reopening of the club.  
We will, as always, follow the necessary protocols to ensure our members and staff stay safe, so we can all enjoy great tennis and continue to do so.  These protocols are set by the City using the OTA (Ontario Tennis Association) guidelines as the standard.

UTC will open Sunday, May 23 @ 7:15am

General Information:
- Hours of Operation:  7:15am – 11pm (Monitors on duty most of the operating hours) 
- During non-monitored hours, a combination lock will be used on the main gate. If you do not know the combination please email:  gatelock@unionvilletennisclub.ca
- Courts available for play:  Courts 1, 2, 3, 4, 8 and 9  
- Online booking will be up and running starting 7:00am Saturday May 22 
- 45 minutes for each booking session  
- Court cancellations must be made online no less than 24 hours ahead of court time
- Doubles play is permitted
- There are no lessons or programming at this stage

Our clay courts, unfortunately, suffered some wildlife damage during this most recent shutdown and repairs are needed.  We are working toward getting them playable as soon as possible and will keep you posted.

Rules for Playing at UTC:
The same rules for play and online booking are in effect as when we opened in April, access the Rules of Play here. These rules will be updated and the effective date is stated at the beginning. The following are key points.

Before you enter the club premises:
- You must be a 2021 club member – no guests or spectators permitted.
- You must book your court through the online booking system, including the name(s) of your playing partner(s) – up to 3 other UTC members.
- You must complete the UTC COVID-19 Screening Tool on the day you are playing: either online before you arrive or use the QR code displayed at the gate to access the questions. This is required, whether you are vaccinated or not.
- Have ID with you until you receive your shoe tags.
- Bring your own tennis balls, water, snacks.

Inside the club premises:
- Stay 2 metres apart – no handshakes or first bumps, etc.
- Clubhouse is closed – no washroom access.

After your play period is up:
- Leave court immediately when your time is up – respect other’s court time
- Use hand sanitizer and put your mask on - do not linger on premises
- Exit through the main gate ONLY - no exit at the gate on court 9
- Take your garbage with you and dispose of properly

Let’s all work together to enjoy a safe return to our club and enjoy the sport we love!

With the announcement made today by the provincial government this afternoon, tennis was given a green light to be played again. We are waiting for directions from the City of Markham on reopening the club and will make an announcement as soon as we can.

Check the website for the latest information, and be subscribed to our email blast to be notified of news.

We hope to bring you all good news shortly.

We hope you are staying safe and healthy. Unfortunately, there is no new information on the relaxing of restrictions that would allow some form of safe play to return to our club. However, we know there is strong pressure being put on the government to reconsider their restrictions. There is no doubt that tennis is among the safest of outdoor recreational activities at a time when it's needed most for our physical, social and mental health.

Our Early Bird pricing deadline of May 3 is rapidly approaching. Many of you have already registered, and we are grateful for your loyalty and support. But we know that there are others who are relying on a confirmation that doubles play, lessons, recreational and competitive programs will be available. Your Executive Board feels it would be unfair for you to not be able to take advantage of the preferred pricing until we can confirm this.

Therefore we are lifting the deadline for the Early Bird pricing. When the situation becomes clearer, we will make the appropriate fair decision at that time. If we choose to announce a new deadline, we will provide an appropriate notice period.

While we wait for restrictions to be lifted in the province, we are launching an evening of instructional tennis fun. This Wednesday, April 28 at 7pm, our Tennis Director, Andy Sutton will be hosting an instructional Zoom session for 100 UTC members.
This week's presentation will focus on "Positioning"; the logic and tactics involved in covering the court, particularly for singles. The instructional portion of the session will be at 7pm and will be approximately 30 minutes. After the presentation, we will have an interactive social, featuring a fun quiz testing trivial tennis knowledge. Ideally you will have 2 smart devices; one that allows you to see the presentation and questions on Andy's screen and another used to answer fun questions. There is no cost to this sessions, but please note this is only open to the first 100 members that click on the button below to access the Zoom session at 7pm on Wednesday April 28. Make sure you save the link!

Join Zoom Session

Please contact Andy at tennisdirector@unionvilletennisclub.ca if you have any questions regarding the above Zoom session.

We may provide more of these sessions in the future. Hope to see you virtually on Wednesday! And we look forward to seeing you on the courts sooner than later.

With the Provincial Government's announcement this past Friday, which included the closure of tennis clubs and public tennis courts across the province, there has been a huge public outcry to lift the ban on outdoor recreational amenities.

While we support the Province of Ontario in its fight to control the spread of COVID-19, many of us would like the government to reconsider their decision to close tennis facilities. There is overwhelming evidence from the medical community that outdoor activities while practicing safe physical distancing is safer than being indoors when it comes to the spread of COVID-19.

The Ontario Tennis Association (OTA) is endorsing a petition that is requesting the province of Ontario to reverse its decision on closing tennis facilities. Your UTC executives are also in support of this petition.

Click on the button below to access and sign the petition.

Let Ontario Play Outside

We hope that this will lead to the Provincial Government reconsidering the restrictions and we get to see you back on the courts again.

With the announcement made today by the provincial government, further COVID-19 restrictions were put in place to control the spread of COVID-19. These new restrictions include the closure of tennis clubs

CLUB CLOSURE

UTC will be closed as of:
Saturday April 17 at 12:01am
Do no enter the club premise after this time.

COURT BOOKINGS

All court bookings for Saturday April 17 and onward have been cancelled and booking members have been notified by email. Court bookings will not be available until further notice.

We will continue to monitor the situation closely and we will notify you as soon as receive more information or updates. Please stay safe in the meantime and we hope to see you back on the courts again soon.

It is wonderful to see you on the courts now that UTC is open.

THINGS TO NOTE

We are receiving a number of emails requesting information and clarification. This email will hopefully clear up some confusion. Please note the following important rules:

- ONLY singles may be played on the open courts (1, 2, 3, 4, 8 & 9). There are no exceptions to the singles only rule; regardless of whether you are from the same household. ONLY 2 people are allowed on the court.
- Clay courts are not open yet.
- We do NOT have a 10-person limit at the club; we are only limited by the number of courts that singles may play on or 12 players on at any given booking time slot. BUT please remember no spectators, guests or public use (non-member).
- The club house is not open to members at this time. If the clubhouse door is open, by chance, when you are at the club, please, do NOT enter. It is being used by monitors or executives working to prepare the club for you.
- You MUST complete the COVID Screening Tool before you enter the club. This may be done any time before you come to the club on the day you are playing. You may can access the Screening Tool here or scan the QR code that is hanging by the main entry gate near the clubhouse to access the questions. (Please note only access the premises using the main gate).
- There are no lessons of any kind allowed.

These and more details on our website under the Rules of Play - please use your internet browser search function to search for keywords to find answers to your questions.

COURT BOOKING RULES

Please review our FAQ for online booking in combination with the Rules of Play .

- Online booking is a week in advance and opens at 7am.
- Only one court booking per person per day. No back-to-back bookings allowed. Your hitting partner must be listed on your booking. (Don’t forget to complete the COVID Screening Tool on the day of play for both players).
- If you are unable to play or change your mind about playing, please cancel your court booking online 24 hours in advance , to allow others to book. We have volunteers that are monitoring the booking records and the no-shows etc. If you do not cancel on time and do not show up, penalties will be imposed.
- If there is inclement weather at the time of your court booking, we will not penalise you for not cancelling within the 24 hours.

We only have singles at this time, please lets all enjoy the courts!

YOUR EXECUTIVE TEAM

Please review the Rules of Play before you come to the club or before you send an email requesting information. The objective of your executive team is to provide you with a safe and enjoyable tennis experience. We are busy with the municipalities, health and tennis authorities to determine the best course of action during these uncertain times. We know that doubles is permitted in Toronto and other regions and we are working towards getting an understanding of the discrepancies and the differing perspectives. Until we are able to reconcile the differences, PLEASE respect the rules above, especially as inspectors will be visiting facilities.

Your executive volunteers are also working towards getting the clay courts operational/maintained and increasing the number of hours at the club, particularly as the weather gets warmer. We will advise you of new hours and/or the opening of the clay courts. We will also be gradually introducing monitors back. We are almost there...

Please visit our website often to see updates and if you haven’t joined, you can do so by clicking the button below.

Join Now!

We thank you for your patience. We are committed to providing our UTC members a safe and enjoyable tennis experience.

We've received exciting news that our club's opening will proceed as planned on Monday April 12, 2021 at 8:45am!

THINGS TO NOTE

- Singles only (ONLY 2 people per court)
- Screening for COVID-19 before play is required and COVID-19 protocols are in effect
- Online court booking is available 7 days in advance starting at 7am
- Members only, no guests, no public access, no spectators
- The club will open at 8:45pm and close at 9:30pm (Starting April 14, courts will be available from 7:15am)
- No member access to the clubhouse (only to staff and Executive)
- No lessons/programs

We will be opening up with minimal monitored hours. Please access the courts using the main clubhouse gates ONLY; do not use the gate on court 9. If the club has no monitor on duty, please use the combination lock to open the gate. Hand sanitizers will be made available. When your 45 minutes of play is finished, check to see if there are others using the courts. If there are other people using the courts, please do not lock the gate behind you. The last pair to leave the courts must lock the gates. If you do not know the combination of the lock, please email gatelock@unionvilletennisclub.ca

Regardless of whether there is a monitor on duty YOU must complete the COVID Screening Tool each and every time you enter the UTC premises. This must be completed on the day prior to your court time. You can access the Screening Tool here, and we recommend bookmarking it. There will be a QR code at the fence if you have forgotten to complete the questionnaire before you arrive. Please scan this code and it will lead you to the screening tool. We will be checking the completion of this questionnaire against the online booking system. Failure to complete this questionnaire will result in booking penalties.

Check our website for the updates to our Rules of Play. And if you haven't joined yet, you can take advantage of your Early Bird Special Rates until May 3rd.

Join Now!

CLAY COURTS

We are waiting for more favourable weather conditions before opening up the clay courts. Please DO NOT use the clay courts as they are not ready and they will get damaged. We will announce when the clay courts will be operational and become available on the online booking system.

GROUNDSKEEPER

Finally, we are currently seeking to hire a groundskeeper for our club. If you or someone you know is interested in maintaining the club, including lawn cutting and handling minor repairs please contact president@unionvilletennisclub.ca

See you on the courts soon!

In light of the most recent Provincial announcements, we want to give you a quick update on our Club's opening.

MARK YOUR CALENDARS!

We have scheduled April 12 as the first date of tennis at our club with online booking starting Monday, April 5 at 7:00am. We are opening our courts at about the same time as most years. Hurrah! Nets and windscreens are set up, and preparations of the clay courts will start, weather permitting.

THINGS TO NOTE

Many of you will be familiar with most of the COVID protocols with one major addition... Before you step on the courts you must complete the COVID-19 Screening Tool. Everyone must do this, each and every time you play. You will be able to access the Screening Tool on our website (at the top of every page) and it will be accessible via a QR code posted at the club. Failure to complete the screening will result in booking penalties.

Please review the updated "RULES OF PLAY" for 2021

The following are some key points:
- Singles only
- Online court booking is available 7 days in advance starting at 7am
- Members only
- Maximum of 10 people at the club at one time
- The club will open at 8:45pm and close at 9:30pm

The current guidelines are quite tough restrictions, they are not unlike the beginning of last year's opening on May 28. We had hoped for more, but we are pleased to be able to start the season 6 weeks earlier than last year. We are optimistic that we will see a gradual easing of restrictions with doubles play permitted and some form of lessons, recreational programs and competitive play.

UPDATE ON LESSONS

Your Director of Tennis, Andy Sutton, and his team are ready to go with many of the programs we know you enjoy, plus new ones that optimize court utilization while respecting health regulations. Andy and his team are taking every possible precaution to ensure a safe and fun environment on the courts this spring and summer. The coaching team has been trained to make sure they employ best practices in maintaining appropriate COVID protocols.

Check out the junior group lessons .

Check out the adult group lessons.

Please note however, due to the uncertainty regarding lessons and the number of players on court, we have scheduled these instructional lessons to begin tentatively for the beginning of May. Registration will NOT be open at this time. We will provide you with registration details as soon as we are more certain of the COVID restrictions pertaining to lessons.

We are very appreciative of your support and patience. If you haven't joined yet, you can take advantage of our Early Bird Pricing until May 3rd.

Join Now!

We look forward to seeing you on the courts soon!

We are all keen to get a safe season started at UTC. However, we are subject to the conditions set by the City of Markham, who must follow York Region and the Province of Ontario health directives.

Earlier this week, we were advised by the City of Markham that we can start to make preparations to open the club. However, many of the details were still under discussion. The UTC Executives are busy getting clarifications for the restrictions and starting preparations to open the club.

WHEN IS THE CLUB OPENING?

Pre-COVID, our club opened in mid-April, weather permitting. Last year, we opened much later (third week in May) with many restrictions. This year we expect to open closer to the normal opening timeframe (weather permitting), but potentially with similar restrictions as last year's opening.

WILL IT BE SAFE TO PLAY?

Like last year, we will be strictly adhering to COVID protocols to ensure the safetey of our members and staff. These protocols will be publicized prior to the club opening.

WHAT RESTRICTIONS WILL BE IN PLACE?

Last year, the season started with various restrictions and limitations (singles only, no programs, limited lessons, no clubhouse access, no guests, and online court booking only). As the season progressed, most of the restructions were lifted or relaxed.

We will be starting the season this year with similar restrictions as last year. But we are optimistic the season will progress to a level of activity exceeding last year. We are planning teams, recreationl, junior and instructional programs. As soon as various restrictions are lifted we will be able to proceed with these exciting programs everyone is looking forward to immediately.

We know this is very non-specific information... But the good new is: WE WILL BE OPENING!

We will be posting new details here on our website as they become available and send out e-blasts.

We hope you are looking forward to this upcoming season as we are! Don't forget to register now to take advantage of Early Bird pricing by clicking on the button below:

Join Now!

There's still some snow on the ground... But, the mercury is rising! We hope that gets you excited for the coming season of outdoor tennis at UTC, because...

MEMBERSHIP IS NOW OPEN FOR THE 2021 SEASON!

Join Now!

Make sure to get your membership before the early bird expires on May 3rd. A detailed fee schedule on membership is available on the Membership page.

We are very pleased to once again have membership fees unchanged this year.

Our membership registration is using PayPal as payment processing, we accept payment from your credit cards or your favourite PayPal account. Please see our Registration Instructions.

Should you have any registration related inquiries, please feel free to contact membership@unionvilletennisclub.ca.

RECREATIONAL PROGRAMS, LESSONS & COMPETITIVE PLAY

We hope to offer all the exciting recreational programs, competitive play and lessons from our great coaching staff similar to last season. Unfortunately, we do not have registrations or start dates available at this time. We will update you with more information as soon as it is available. In the meantime, check out the respective pages for what was offered in past season to look forward this year: adult and junior programs, adult and junior lessons, Wednesday Evenings Round Robin , and competitive teams play.

OTHER INFORMATION

We continue to monitor the COVID situation in our community and we will advise everyone regarding changes to club policies and procedures as they become available as we continue to operate during these strange times.

We thank you for your trust and loyalty and look forward to having everyone back for another terrific tennis season.

ADULT MONITORS - BLOW YOUR OWN WHISTLE

UTC is in need of adult monitors, if you are interested in working a few hours a week, we would like to hear from you! Please email you contact information and any relevant work experience to: clubhouse@unionvilletennisclub.ca.

Thank you for those who attended the Annual General Meeting and provided their comments and questions. Click on the button below to access the AGM presentation:

AGM Presentation Deck

If you require additional information on club finances, please email our Treasurer, Harry Eaglesham at treasurer@unionvilletennisclub.ca

Dear UTC members,

2020 has been very different but it was great to see returning and new members come out to our club this year to play the sport we all love! The end of the outdoor tennis season means, it's that time of the year again:

UTC's AGM

Please join us virtually for the Annual General Meeting (AGM):

Saturday November 21, 2020 at 4pm

From the comfort of your home, joining us virtually through Zoom! There is no Year End Party this year, but we will try to have a bit of fun!

The AGM is a key event for those who want to learn about UTC's operations. We welcome questions and comments from all of our members to continue improving our club. The AGM will also include a virtual awards presentation. The winners will be announced and awards will be distributed by contactless delivery by the Executives. Attendance is free, members will have to register and join the meeting though the Zoom app or program using either a computer or a smartphone/tablet device. The meeting is open to 2020 UTC members only.

Proposed slate of Directors 2020-2021:

This serves as a formal notice of our AGM. A detailed agenda will be sent out at a later date.

To register to attend the 2020 AGM, click the button below:

Register Now!

Only registered 2020 UTC members can register to attend the meeting.

If you have any questions, please email Moe Otsubo at events@unionvilletennis.club.ca.

We hope to see you virtually!

Hello UTC Community,

We hope you are savouring the sunshine today!

As you are probably aware, the provincial government announced yesterday that they are moving York Region to a modified Stage 2 amid a surge of new Covid-19 cases.

As a result of this announcement the municipal government has informed us that they are uncertain of any new protocols for Markham Tennis Courts and what will need to be done in order to comply with the modified Stage 2.

In addition, please note that the next 5 days long range weather forecast is cold and rainy.

Due to these reasons, and in order to provide you with safe tennis, we will close the club a few days earlier than that of previously announced. The club will be closed for the season as of 9:30pm, Sunday October 18. All booked courts from Monday October 19 to October 23 will be cancelled. We regret the situation but without clear direction from the municipality we cannot keep the club open.

We are committed to providing you with safe and enjoyable tennis. We hope you have enjoyed your tennis season and we look forward to planning for next season.

Hello UTC Members,

Join as many of our Year End Club Tournaments as you wish! The deadlines to enter are fast approaching as follows:

2020 UTC Singles Championship Tournament

The Singles Tournament will take place from Thursday, September 10 to Sunday, September 13. Registration is now open to all UTC Adult members (juniors who play on an Adult Intercounty evening team can join the tournament). All players are guaranteed at least 2 matches. The registration deadline is Tuesday September 8 at 9:00 PM. The registration fee is $8 per player, which covers the cost of balls, and should be paid at the Clubhouse at sign up time or no later than Tuesday September 8.

There are two ways to register:

For other Tournaments, please refer to our website for more details.

Hello UTC Community,

It is wonderful to see everyone back in “the swing of things.” Our programs have resumed and our lessons/coaching are up and running.

UTC New Junior Program - begins August 15!

The objective of this league is to have juniors resume play with other juniors of similar level.

Register Today!

Here’s how it will work:

Register Today!

Please note: effective immediately, juniors will only be allowed to play in the evenings, after 6:30 pm, when accompanied by adult(s) playing together on the same court. We will be enforcing this rule on the courts.

For all members - please remember ...

Enjoy the courts!

We have more good news to share!

UTC is moving to Stage 3 of "Return to Play", effective July 31st.

We remind you too, that there is still some space in the programs that are starting up – check out the website for information and to register for these great opportunities for more tennis:

New & Modified Protocols to be followed as of July 31:

Please refer to our Stage 3 Operating Protocol document for more details.

Please note that we will be going live with our Google Calendar. This will show all the programs (RRs), group lessons and maintenance for the clay courts.

Please also note that we have put back some of the squeegees on the courts. You may use them to dry off wet areas of the courts. But please use the hand sanitizers affixed to the net posts before and after you handle all equipment.

Looking forward to seeing you on the courts as we enjoy the gradual opening of more and more opportunities to enjoy the game we all love.

Stay safe and well.

We are pleased to announce the launch of more programs as follows:

Mixed Monday Evening House League

With Intercounty leagues not taking place this year, we are excited to introduce a new UTC mixed house league for 2020! This league is open to players who have played in intercounty teams before either at UTC or another club. The league will run on Monday nights starting Monday August 3rd. Details about the league can be found on our website.

If you are interested in some competitive matches against fellow UTC members, register to join the league now:

Register Today!

The deadline to register is Tuesday July 28th. There is a limit on the number of registrations. Late registrants will be placed on a spare list.

For any enquiries about this house league, please contact the coordinators at teams@unionvilletennisclub.ca.

Men's & Ladies Singles Ladder

We are also happy to announce the reactivation of the UTC network on Global Tennis Network (GTN)! For those members searching for players to hit with, please register to join this network to connect with fellow members.

We are also opening up the Singles Ladder on the network so you can challenge participants, accumulate points and climb your way to the top! Make your way on to the GTN website to register and see the ladder rules. Instructions on how to join the network and the ladder can be found on our website.

If you have any questions regarding the UTC Singles Ladder, please contact the coordinator at ladder@unionvilletennisclub.ca.

Happy hitting!  

We hope the summer is serving you well.

We continue to make good progress in opening up facilities and easing restrictions in Markham for playing tennis. We are currently in Stage 2 of reopening and Stage 3 was just announced to start from July 24.

We are pleased to announce programming is finally able to start up, beginning with the following:

Watch out for new announcements on more programs in the coming days.

Washroom Access

We are also pleased to announce that one washroom in the clubhouse is open for members to use.  A mask must be worn inside the clubhouse.  Please enter through the south deck only and ensure that there is only one person at a time.  Please only use the one washroom that is indicated for members.  And note that the clubhouse is not open for general use.  Please bring your water bottles - the kitchen is not open for members, and no water filling is allowed.

We have been receiving some comments and emails with questions.  We hope the following answers your queries:

Online Booking

Online booking opens up 6:00 am in the morning for court bookings in the following week.  We are using a 6:00 am start in order to give everyone an equal chance of booking a court.  Any other time would prevent some groups from booking during their tennis or work hours.

There are only three reasons why a court may be blocked from booking:

As announced above, we will also be pre-booking a few courts for the start of programs.

Ontario Tennis Association (OTA) & City of Markham

We have been asked various questions on procedures and policies.  Please note that we have to adhere to OTA recommendations and City of Markham requirements in order to operate our club.  We are in constant communication with the City of Markham to ensure that we are employing the best practices.  Please note a few details:

We will be contacting you soon to advise you of more changes and the addition of more programs upon entering Stage 3.

Have a wonderful tennis experience.

Ready, set go! We are delighted to announce that our popular Wednesday evening Round Robin is now starting up again. Registration for the program is open here. Once you register and pay for the program you will then receive further instructions from the RR Coordinator on how to reserve a spot in one of the two available sessions each week using the Gametime system. The first event will be on July 22 with 4 courts available for both sessions, more courts will be made available in later weeks as more members join. First session starts at 6:30 pm and the second at 8:00 pm. If you join the RR but just miss the Tuesday afternoon deadline to register for a slot this week, for this coming week only, please email the Coordinator and we will see what we can do, but please don't cancel any other court bookings until you get a confirmation.

A complete Guide, including Gametime instructions, is also available on the web site at RR Guide. Some changes have had to be made to reflect City and OTA Covid guidelines but hopefully we can be back to winners up and losers down soon. In the meantime we will be staying on one court within the same foursome for the full 1.5 hours each session. However, within that foursome you are free to move around as you wish, changing ends, and changing partners for the best competitive balance or just for a change, it’s up to each foursome to decide.

Court assignments will be prepared in advance and given to the monitor, who will then direct players to their correct courts for each session. One new can of balls per court will be made available as you arrive, one can per court per session, as ball sharing is now allowed within that one court. Please continue to follow Covid protocols, including use of hand sanitizer before and after play.

In normal times the process of winners move up, losers down, and partners changing, is much preferred as it tends to establish a better balance of play. Until we can get back to that, the Coordinator will try to strike a fair balance with the court assignments. Please feel free to email any comments or concerns about individual court assignments to roundrobin@unionvilletennisclub.ca. Each can of balls can be taken home for personal use by one of the players on each court at the end of each session (at your own risk, but think "ball quarantine" and hand washing).

Other program announcements will follow assuming continuing positive news on the Covid front.

We are pleased to see you playing doubles (and singles). We hope you are enjoying the courts.  We wanted to provide you with an update after the first week of Stage 2 reopening. We have several important changes to our club policies.  Please read carefully. 

We have observed that there is a demand for longer play time for doubles.  As a result, we have made some changes to our online booking schedule.  These are the changes:

New 45-minute sessions back to back schedule

We have eliminated the 15-minute break time in between sessions.  Play sessions will be organized on a back to back basis.  You will still have a 45-minute court time for each booked session.  To help with quick court turnover please have your shoe tags ready to present to the monitor on duty for check in.

The online booking system with the new 45-minute sessions back to back schedule is now available.  This new schedule will be effective from Saturday July 4 and onwards.  Since we continue to book courts one week in advance, this upcoming week’s (Saturday June 27 - July 3) the current hourly schedule will remain in effect and all bookings made will be unaffected.

Doubles can be played in 2 consecutive sessions

Doubles players will be allowed to play 2 consecutive sessions or 1.5 hours of consecutive play.  PLEASE NOTE THAT THIS ONLY APPLIES TO DOUBLES.  The booking rules have not changed.  You may only book one session per day.  However, if your doubles partners have booked a court preceding or following your booking time you will be permitted to play two sessions consecutively.  Singles play will not have consecutive court time play.  We will be monitoring and imposing penalties for singles players that attempt to play more than 45 minutes and doubles players that attempt to have played more than 1.5 hours consecutively. For more detailed guidelines, please visit our latest rules of play on our website.

Please continue to practice physical distancing both before and after play.  Do not touch nets, posts and gates or other courts’ tennis balls. Please bring your own hand sanitizers and use before and after play.   And please remember that the clubhouse, including the washrooms will remain closed until further notice.

New membership registration

With the implementation of this new 45-minute back to back schedule, we can have more play court times – we have increased our bookable sessions again by another 40%.   As a result, we shall remove the previous restriction and once again allow for new membership.   Please join us online here.

Unmonitored play

Another important change is that the City of Markham is now allowing unmonitored play for members only (note that there are NO public hours).  This means that you will be able to play even when the club monitors are not on duty, both in the early morning and mid-afternoon hours.  We still require you to book online, for courts, since we must still adhere to the City of Markham’s request for minimizing congregation and for providing contact tracing.

During unmonitored play, if you arrive at the courts (entrance near Court 1) and the gate is locked please use hand sanitizer to disinfect your hands and use our combination lock to unlock the gate.  Please sanitize your hands immediately after unlocking the gate.  Leave the gate unlocked and open for others to enter.  If you are the last person to leave the courts, please re-lock the gates, and make sure you sanitize your hands again.  Please ensure that you bring your own sanitizers to the courts.  Entrance and exit during unmonitored hours of play are through the clubhouse gate located near Court 1.  Please be careful to exercise physical distancing as you exit and enter.  For new members who do not have the information on opening UTC’s lock please contact Lorraine Eaglesham at lmeaglesham@aol.com

We hope these changes will be positively received as we continue to move towards Stage 3.

Stage 2 Reopening

We are pleased to announce that the tennis clubs in Markham will be entering Stage 2 of reopening.  And one of the most important features of Stage 2 is that we may all play doubles, starting Friday June 19th at UTC!

If you have a court booked for Friday and onwards, you may play singles or doubles.  If you choose to play doubles, please add the additional players to your court booking online in advance to ensure a smooth check-in process upon arrival.  Please note this is an important part of contact tracing, that the City has asked us to continue.

As per City rules, we cannot open the washrooms to the general membership.  Also note that the 2-metre physical distancing rule is still in effect and please limit the sharing of balls.  Bring your own hand sanitizers to the court and use it before and after play.

An updated guideline will be available on our website which includes the latest updates in court booking and playing at the club.  Please take a moment to review the changes and keep note of the unchanged rules.

More Court Hours

We shall open from 8am daily (one hour earlier), effective from Friday June 19th.  In addition, for the week of June 22nd, we will have volunteers at our club in the afternoon so that the courts can be played on from 2 to 5pm on the weekdays.  Together this represents a total of almost 30% increase of court times on a weekly basis.  These extra court times are now available for booking online. The volunteers will perform the same duties as a monitor and we ask that you please follow their directions.

Carol Wong Volunteer Appreciation Award

While the reopening of UTC has been a challenge this year, we want to acknowledge our deep gratitude to the members of our club that have persevered and made this club a success.  During last year’s AGM we presented all the awards except the Carol Wong Volunteer Appreciation Award.  The award is given to honour individuals that have contributed persistently and consistently to the club.  It is with great pleasure that we present this award to Alison Horne. In addition to volunteering for events, Alison is our accountant that makes sure that our books are straight.  She is precise and prompt and we are indebted to her for the years of service.  Congratulations and thank you Alison!

We continue to work hard to provide our members a safe environment to play tennis and appreciate the cooperation of our members.  Thank you again for your patience as we make UTC a fun place to be!

It is wonderful to see all of you on the courts.  We are pleased to provide you with a place to enjoy and reconnect with tennis and familiar faces.

We wanted to provide you with an update about the club after just over two weeks of re-opening and the current situation with some new measures:

Rain Cancellation Notification

First, as you will have noticed the club is getting busier with online bookings and we are pleased that so many of you are taking advantage of this online feature.  We continue to add functionalities to the booking system that will allow further streamlining of processes.  We have added a function that will allow monitors to cancel all bookings in the event of inclement weather or other problems with courts/lights.  An email notification of cancellation will be sent to all affected booking members with the cancellation reason stated.  Hopefully this alleviate some disappointments and calls to monitors.

No shows

We have also been following up on “no-shows” on courts.  As you can imagine, this is highly undesirable and particularly disheartening when only singles are allowed now and our court hours are in such high demand.  Please, please consider there are always other members who are looking to book a court and cannot do so.  If you are unable to attend your booked time, please cancel the booking and release the court as soon as possible; and before 24 hours of the scheduled time.  We have instituted a tracking process for no-shows and will impose a temporary suspension of booking privilege for individuals that do not show up.

Extra Operating Hours

Due to high demand we will be increasing the opening hours of the club with the use of volunteers.  The club must have a monitor on duty during opening hours and we will still have to record and provide contact tracing information to the City/Public Health in the event of a breakout.  We will have volunteers monitor courts as early as this weekend, so more court hours will be available for booking.  Please check our website for specific hours.

Suspending New Membership Registration

In an effort to avoid the club becoming even busier, we have temporarily suspended accepting new membership registration, effective immediately.

Returning members (2019 season's members) are exempted from the above restriction.  We shall continue welcoming our returning members to join us.

Check-in Procedure

To help streamlining our check-in process, it is extremely important that, when you book a court, you enter your hitting partner’s membership number.   The membership number is simply the current year (2020) and the shoe tag number (4 digits).  The “A “preceding the number simply indicates “adult” and the “J” indicates junior.  As an example, A-20200001 would be Adult Member 0001.  Entering this information will make it much easier and faster for checking-in and it translates to more tennis time for you and your fellow members!  Monitors must verify this information when you arrive.  If any information is incorrect or missing,  we will need to correct/update it and this will slow down your check-in as well as all others'.

Please remember that we have made significant changes to hours and membership in order to provide all members with an opportunity to play.  As a result, we also ask that you do not play consecutive sessions.  When Stage 2 comes into effect, we will be able to revisit the rules and allow for more time for play.  Thank you for understanding.

Finally, we continue to monitor provincial and City guidelines for safe tennis.  We are encouraged by ongoing discussions that doubles will resume in some format.  This will allow us to get more of you on the courts.  We have already been working out details on how the process may work and we will provide these to you as soon as we get the information from the City.

We thank you for your patience and we ask that you please follow the posted guidelines on our website.  They will change as we make modifications.  Most importantly, please book only if you can attend, indicate your hitting partner and please, please cancel before 24 hours if you do not plan to use the court so that we can all enjoy our beautiful facilities.

We are excited to remind you of UTC’s first stage reopening.

Opening Date: open for member play starting at 12 noon, Thursday May 28

There are some important new rules that must be followed and can be accessed on our website:

Rules to Play at UTC-Stage 1

Please read these thoroughly so you know the rules of play and the new procedures for check-in on courts.

In addition, we have detailed information on our new online booking system. Please review these guidelines to book your court! Remember, our online booking system goes live tomorrow morning at 6:00 am - so set the alarm!

Note, if you are having problems, we also have a FAQ section that helps you troubleshoot any potential problems.

Our private lessons will also be up and running. Andy Sutton and his team are ready for you! Please visit the Lessons and Pro’s Corner to learn more.

And most importantly, do not forget to register as a member if you haven’t already done so. Only registered members will be allowed to play. No guests allowed in Stage 1.

Looking forward to seeing you on the courts!

We are very excited to announce further details on the first stage of the reopening of UTC.

OPENING DATE: open for member play starting at 12 noon, Thursday, May 28.

However, like many other matters these days, there will be a "new normal". At least for this stage. The City of Markham, with guidance from tennis and health authorities, has approved our initial opening on the condition that we adhere to a strict set of new procedures and policies.

Below is a brief summary of new information. Details will be posted on our website shortly.

CLUBHOUSE: will be closed to members. Only staff and members of the Executive will have access when required. So NO WASHROOM OR WATER ACCESS available for now.  You will be required to bring your own water.  And if you have any garbage, please take it back home with you.

HOURS of OPERATION and STAFFING: the club will be open from 9am to 2pm & 5pm to 11pm Monday to Friday. Weekends and holidays from 9am to 10pm. A monitor will be on duty during these hours.  The club will be closed and locked when monitors are not on duty.

ONLINE COURT BOOKINGS: all courts must be booked online in this stage. A new online booking system will handle this. Only those who have booked a court plus staff and Executive are permitted on the premises. Detailed instructions will be posted on our website.  NOTE: you will be receiving an email on Wednesday announcing that the system is open for booking starting from 6am and instructions on how to accept a mandatory City Waiver Form.  We will require photo ID when checking in.  Further details on procedures will follow.

SINGLES ONLY: only singles play is permitted in the first stage.

BALLS: every player must bring their own can of identifiable tennis balls (clearly marked with a marker). Rules for using them in play will be posted on the website.

HEALTH & SAFETY FIRST: our staff will be following mandatory processes and instructing members on requirements to protect the health of all.

MEMBERS ONLY: no guests permitted

LESSONS: Andy Sutton and his staff will be providing private and family lessons. These can be booked by contacting Andy directly at tennisdirector@unionvilletennisclub.ca. More information about Andy's team is available on our website. Hopefully, group lessons and camps will be available in a future stage. 

SOCIAL & RECREATIONAL PROGRAMS: There will be no organized programs or events in this stage. Hopefully they will be available in a future stage.

TEAMS: There will be no team competitions in this stage. However, ICTA is expecting to organize a late starting season which will either be shortened or extended.

A lot of work has been done upfront by many volunteers to get us to this point and the full Executive is very appreciative of this.

This is very new for all of us and we ask for your understanding and full cooperation. We are grateful to be playing at all this season. We do hope and expect these restrictions to evolve over time.

Please be sure to review details on our website (to be posted shortly) before coming to the club for your booked court. This will maximize the time you will have to play tennis and will greatly help our monitors to best serve you.

Let’s all work together to enjoy a safe return to our club and the sport we love! 

We hope you and your family are well and you’re starting to think about playing tennis for real!

Yesterday, Premier Doug Ford announced that tennis courts could be opened starting on May 19. The Unionville Tennis Club Executive has been busy preparing for this moment. We are working closely with the City of Markham who must approve our readiness to open safely in this COVID-19 environment.

We may not be quite ready to open on May 19. We will be sending a followup email in the near future with full details on opening date and operating regulations and procedures. We expect that these procedures will evolve over the course of the season.

Our membership registration system has been open continuously since February. The early bird rates for membership are extended indefinitely. If you have not registered yet, you can join us today!

We appreciate our members' patience and understanding over the last couple of months of uncertainty.

Once again, stay tuned for more details coming soon.

Looking forward to seeing you on the courts!

In light of the recent City's official announcement and the current uncertainties, UTC shall remain closed temporarily.

We understand there are questions regarding club opening dates, programs, existing registrations and so on. Unfortunately, it is not possible to provide clear answers to most of those questions at this point. We will continually monitor and evaluate the evolving circumstances and will further communicate with any updates as soon as possible.

Please rest assured that we will make decisions in the best interest of our members.

The City of Markham has advised that all tennis clubs will remain closed until further notice in line with the Province of Ontario announced measures to break the spread of the virus in the community. We will remain in touch with the authorities and we fully support measures to protect our members and the Markham community.

The City of Markham notice is below:

Attention: Markham Tennis Users,

The City of Markham is committed to the health and safety of its employees and the community. We are working closely with our Public Health colleagues at the regional, provincial and national levels concerning the evolving novel coronavirus (COVID-19) situation.

With growing concerns around COVID-19, and out of an abundance of caution, all City facilities are closed to the public until further notice to help break the chain of transmission of the virus.

As part of the Provincial announcement to close all non-essential services, the City of Markham is advising all community tennis clubs that clubhouses and respective tennis court facilities will remain closed until further notice.

We appreciate your understanding.

As we approach our upcoming outdoor tennis season we are faced with the uncertainties of the COVID-19 pandemic. We are very conscientious of our responsibility to provide a safe and healthy environment for our members and staff. We will monitor the health authorities advice at the municipal, provincial and federal levels to ensure our facilities and operations provide the safe environment you deserve.

Right now the situation with the progress of this COVID-19 emergency is quickly evolving day to day. We are currently closed as we await the arrival of spring and our spring opening. However we are proceeding with our plans and preparations mindful of any special measures to allow us to quickly get our operations and programs running when appropriate. We, like you, are anxious to resume operation as soon as possible.

Our website is updated with all our programs and has been processing memberships and programs for several weeks. To help with our planning, we encourage you to continue with your registrations.

We will communicate with members via email to announce events and developments in the coming weeks. We will also use this page to post our operational status and measures we are taking to manage the COVID-19 situation.

Please follow the advice offered by our Public Health Officials, including: thorough hand washing; social distancing; self isolation if feeling unwell; caring for those around you if they need assistance. These measures will help ensure your health, your family’s health and that of others in our community. If you develop symptoms of COVID-19 contact Health Connection at 1-800-361-5653 and self-isolate at home for 14 days. You can find good information on this York Region website.

Happy New Year! May your New Year be filled with a lot of tennis!

MEMBERSHIP

We are very excited to announce that membership for the 2020 season is NOW OPEN.

Make sure to get your membership before the early bird expires. A detailed fee schedule on membership is available on the Membership page.

Join Now!

We are very pleased to have been able to once again hold membership fees unchanged this year, despite substantial renovation expenses last year.

SPRING PROGRAMS

We continue to offer many adult and junior programs at UTC this spring. For example, UTC’s Wednesday Evenings Round Robin (RR) is OPEN for registration now. Click here to reserve your spot in this popular RR. Ladies Tuesday Morning House League is also OPEN for registration. To sign up, please fill in this form.

LESSONS & SUMMER CAMPS

We have both adult and junior lessons and summer camps as detailed on our site. Registration for these lessons are limited. Sign up now to reserve your spots!

OTHER INFORMATION

Our membership registration is using PayPal as payment processing, we accept payment from your credit cards or your favourite PayPal account. Please see our Registration Instructions.

Should you have any registration related inquiries, please feel free to contact membership@unionvilletennisclub.ca.

We look forward to having everyone back for another terrific tennis season.

UTC is hosting the 3rd annual "Winter Tune-Up Social" at Angus Glen Tennis Centre. This event will give you the opportunity to tune-up your tennis skills and reconnect or meet new tennis enthusiasts of UTC!

When

Saturday, March 14, 2020 from 6:30pm to 10:30pm.

Who

Open to all adult members from the 2019 season and all new adult members for the 2020 season. (Unfortunately we cannot accept junior members for this event)

Join Now!

Where

The event will take place at Angus Glen Tennis Centre located at:

3970 Major Mackenzie Drive East
Markham, Ontario
L6C 1P8

Why

Why not play tennis? This event will be in the form of Round Robin matches. The cost of the social is only $25. Deadline for registration is March 9th, 2020. There are only 32 spaces, so be sure to reserve your spot ASAP!

To register for this sure-to-be fun event:

Join Now!

There will be light refreshments at this event.

If you have any questions about this event email Moe Otsubo, Events Director, at events@unionvilletennisclub.ca

We hope to see you there!