Dear Members,

 

We hope that you have all managed as well as possible during the recent lockdown and are looking forward to getting back on the squash court. Following the Government’s announcements, we are pleased to reopen the Squash Club from Monday 12th April. During lockdown, England Squash have been working very hard on behalf of all players to permit as much flexibility as possible, but from 12th April  2021 only the following will be permitted:

 

 

1. Solo practice

2. Play within a household

3. One to one coaching for adults (or juniors groups) with an England Squash qualified coach using socially distanced practices

 

England Squash has a proposed timeline that, subject to Government approval, will allow play in bubbles from 17th May and then general play from 21st June.

 

We are following the relevant guidelines to make the club as safe as possible, but if you are in any doubt, please exercise your own judgement and delay your comeback to the squash court. As before, there will be hand sanitiser and wipes available. To be sure, please also bring some with you. Please use the sanitiser and wipe down all touch points after play,  and scan the NHS QR code on your phone whenever you are at the Club. Remember to bring your own water/drinks. As a reminder, you will find the link to our Players’ Agreement here. Unfortunately, the showers and upstairs still remain out of bounds, but we will aim to reopen these when further restrictions are lifted.

 

 

For 1 to 1 coaching requests, please contact Steve Lloyd at lloydstephen@talk21.com . We have attached a poster from Steve with the great offer of a free comeback lesson and a calendar with his availability. Steve will aim to fulfil as many requests as possible and when unavailable he will try to arrange an alternative coach.

​

​

 

As a club we are fortunate to have a number of England Squash qualified coaches within our membership. We have confirmed with England Squash that they can conduct socially distanced coaching routines with another player provided that they follow the England Squash guidelines and maintain 2 metres separation. If you have an England Squash coaching qualification and would like to help, then please contact andy.smyth4@gmail.com who will provide you with the relevant information and restrictions. For the avoidance of doubt, if there is more than one player on court they must either be from the same household or at least one of them must be a qualified coach.

​

 

Court 3 now has a new floor after the flood damage and all the courts and heaters are in great condition following this and other cleaning and maintenance. 

 

To encourage members back on court we are pleased to confirm that all court fees will be £2 per session at this time and the booking system will be open shortly. Here is the link to the booking system. Please update your email and contact details within the booking system. Please remember to cancel any bookings that you cannot use. The Whatsapp group can be an effective way of letting members know you have cancelled and that a court has become available.

 

Finally, we plan to have our long awaited AGM on 30th June at 7.30pm. It would be great if you could come along as it is important to the committee that we get member feedback and we would welcome any suggestions (at the AGM or at any other time). You can contact any of the committee via the website if you cannot make it in person.

​

From Monday 12th April, the Rugby Club will be open for outdoor drinks (tables of 6), bar service and limited food. Opening hours will be 6 to 10pm Monday to Friday if you fancy a post lockdown drink.

 

Take care and enjoy your squash and racketball,

 

Harpenden RFC Squash Club Committee