An emergency meeting of the club executive council was held on March 5th to discuss the protocol with regards to the club opening in 2020, amidst COVID-19.

With regards to an opening date, we will be monitoring all public health notices and following any recommendations put forward municipally, provincially, and federally. As you may know, the City of Toronto provides us with a yearly permit to run the club. By extension, we fall under the jurisdiction of the Parks, Forestry and Recreation Department. As of today’s date, the City of Toronto has canceled all non-essential services and closed many facilities. We fall under this list of closures. The City of Toronto will not be servicing the tennis club, nor allow it to open, until further notice.

We received official correspondence from the City of Toronto, as follows:

"I wanted to reach out to provide some clarity and direction around how the City's Covid-19 measures will impact the City of Toronto Community Tennis Clubs. I understand that many clubs have been issued their permit and are eager to begin gearing up for their season.

• All City of Toronto tennis courts are to remain closed through April 5. This includes clubhouses as well. This is consistent with the direction that all City facilities remain closed until this date.

• Parks staff will be posting signs indicating these closures and will monitor the clubhouses by visiting once a week.

• Any planned work or cleaning by clubs will need to be postponed until this date.

• Water access at clubhouses will be turned back on as seasonal staff are brought back on.

• Questions related to an extension of the tennis season or permit fees will be addressed at a later date as this is an evolving situation.

• We will keep you updated if any of these measures are extended or modified."

Where does that leave us?

Effective immediately, we are ceasing to accept new memberships. Once we have a firm opening date, we will be sending out correspondence letting you know of such and re-open our membership at that time. If there is a delay in opening, all memberships fees for 2020 will be pro-rated, based on the number of months we are able to open.

What happens if I already paid for membership?

If you already registered AND PAID for a membership, we will be refunding you a portion of your early bird membership fees, on a pro-rated basis, once we have a firm opening date for the club. If you have registered for the House League or Ladder, we will assess whether there is a need for a refund of these fees once we have an opening date for the club and determine whether we have sufficient time to run the House League and/or Ladder.

We will continue to communicate information as it becomes available. In the interim, please remember that we all have our part to do to help eliminate Covid-19. Stay home, socially distance yourself, and follow all the regulations being put in place by the various forms of government. We wish you all safety and health during this turbulent time and look forward to seeing you back on the courts in due time.

Sincerely,

2020 BVTC Board of Directors