Tennis News You Can Use
There were two Adult Major Zone Tennis Tournaments in Texas over the last weekend. One was the Polo Tennis Club Adult Major Zone which was located in Austin. The other was the Texas Tennis Museum & Hall of Fame Adult Doubles Major Zone in Waco. It is weird to have two Adult Major Zone tournaments scheduled on top of each other.
It wasn’t planned to be that way. The Polo Club tournament was originally scheduled in May and thus was impacted by the COVID-19 suspension of play. I am sure that the Waco organizers were pretty annoyed that another large tournament was allowed to reschedule on top of their weekend.
The Fiend at Court Spousal Unit forwarded me the safety protocols in use for the Waco tournament that he played over the weekend. This prompted me to also take a peek at the “Tournament Information” page for the Polo Club tournament. I was in the process of determining if there was anything in either tournament that would be interesting enough to support today’s “Tennis News You Can Use” content standard, when I came across something that stopped me cold.
PLAYER COMPLIMENTARY KEG BEER
Excerpt from the Polo Tennis Club Adult Major Zone, Important Info Page
Friday August 21 6:00 PM at Polo Club
Saturday August 22 6:00 PM at Polo Club
I was astonished to see the announcement of the complimentary keg because I have been assuming that it is a relic of a bygone era. Alternatively, at least until a safe and effective COVID-19 vaccine is developed. The tournament keg is a natural gathering point for people. It is central to watching the evenings Mixed Doubles festivities. That gives me another chance to lament that Mixed will apparently not be a part of the Adult tournament landscape in 2021.
The announcement was oddly out of alignment with other elements of the safety protocols announced for the Polo Club event. As an example, the tournament is not providing water on the courts which seems to be the new universal standard for facilities during the COVID era. If there is concern over COVID transmission from a common water cooler, I cannot conceive how that is materially different than a keg of beer. The alcohol content of beer is significantly below the concentration required for effective hand sanitization.
Additionally, players at the Polo Club tournament were instructed to not enter the facility until 10 minutes before their scheduled match time and to limit the number of guests to 1. Presumably the players and their spectator would be expected to depart the facility and not loiter when the match is completed. Does this mean that the keg is basically one for the road?
The Polo Club tournament did have some provisions to reduce player movement the proximity of the tournament desk, thought some of the instructions were confusing to my literal engineering eye. Masks were required to enter the pro shop and restrooms at that tournament.
The Waco tournament included instructions to players to not hop on unassigned court to enable contact tracing in the event of any positive COVID tests following the tournament. In fact, the tournament contains a request and provisions for reporting to the tournament if a player tests positive immediately following the tournament.
Check in and score reporting in Waco was performed electronically using text messaging. Balls distribution and collection was performed at the assigned court rather than the tournament desk. While the tournament desk existed, it was strictly for questions and issues, not the administration of the tournament.
I gave no serious consideration to playing either event, but that is because I knew that draws were unlikely to make at my level, which they did not. As I contemplate potential play moving forward I would observe that I tend to prefer more stringent protocols. The important thing is to make as many players feel comfortable playing events as possible.
In this case I think that means that I would prefer tournaments to be a little more like Waco and a little less like the Polo Club.
- Polo Tennis Club Adult Major Zone Tournament Page, https://tennislink.usta.com/Tournaments/TournamentHome/Tournament.aspx?T=243015#&&s=7, viewed 8/22/2020.
- Texas Tennis Museum & Hall of Fame Adult Doubles Major Zone Tournament Page, https://tennislink.usta.com/Tournaments/TournamentHome/Tournament.aspx?T=243099#&&s=0, viewed 8/22/2020.
