top of page

CLUB RULES 

Courts

  1. Please book your court times online.

  2. Members are allowed three advance court bookings at any time. (Lessons, clinics and events do not count towards the advanced court booking limit.)

  3. Bookings open 7 days in advance at 7 am.

  4. Courts must be booked with a minimum of two players names and a maximum of 4 players names.

  5. Players cannot book back-to-back courts.

  6. Members should receive a system-generated notice of court bookings, amendments and cancellations.

  7. Players have 10 minutes from the booking time to show up: after that, they lose the reservation.

  8. Players appearing on court must be the same as the names in the Court Reserve.

  9. Bookings can be modified or cancelled until playing time. Please do this through Court Reserve. [Click on Reservations, then My Reservations to see a list of your reservations.]

  10. Please be respectful of other players' demands for courts and try to keep short-notice cancellations to a minimum. 

  11. Staff will be monitoring bookings to help ensure compliance with the rules.

  12. Please be respectful of the Clubhouse team. Please respect all of their requests, including any requests to vacate courts early if needed.

  13. Members looking to walk on should check with the Clubhouse team.

  14. If there is an empty court, please talk to the Clubhouse team, who is in charge of prioritizing play.​​​              

  15. Same-day bookings can be 12 hours ahead of the court time. Same-day bookings do not count towards the per-member three-advance-court-booking limit. Same-day bookings can be used to book back-to-back courts.

Guests

  1. All guests must be recorded in Court Reserve.Please include first and last name.

  2. A member player must be on the court.

  3. All guests, except team opponents, must pay a guest fee. Guest fees are $15 plus HST per player.

  4. Guest fees are to be paid in the clubhouse in advance of play. Credit or debit only.

  5. All guests or non-members playing in public hours must use the QR code in the clubhouse, where they need to fill in the online form before playing.

  6. Members with their membership on hold, people on the membership waitlist and non-member parents/guardians of junior do not have playing privileges and can only play as guests, and must pay the guest fee.

  7. Guests have to follow all club rules. Members are responsible for informing their guests of the rules.

  8. There is no restriction on the number of guests a member can bring. There is no restriction on how often a guest can play.

  9. Adult and Intermediate members can bring children as guests as long as they are playing with the guests.

  10. Junior members cannot bring guests (the exception is a non-member parent/guardian).

​

Ball Machine

  1. The ball machines are only available on courts 4 and 5.

  2. Ball machine can be booked on Court Reserve.

  3. The fee is $13 plus HST. The clubhouse team can help set up the ball machine.

  4. When booking a court, on Court Reserve the ball machine is a Reservation Type.

  5. Ball machine fees are to be paid in the clubhouse at time of use. Credit or debit only.

  6. Please also see the Guidelines for Divider Nets and Ball Machine Usage section on the club website.

   ADDITIONAL RULES​

  • Members: Membership shall not be refused on the grounds of race, creed, colour, national origin, political or religious affiliation, gender, sexual orientation, age, marital status, family relationship or disability excluding those who belong to groups that espouse intolerance, racism, hatred or violence.​​ A “Member” shall be considered “in good standing,” if he or she is not in arrears of fees nor has acted against following the objects of the clubs, nor has been suspended nor otherwise sanctioned for violation of the club’s bylaws, rules and regulations, nor has acted against the general interest of he club resulting in suspension.​​​

  • Tennis Attire: Players shall wear tennis clothing and tennis court shoes. Clothing with offensive wording or logos, and soiled clothing are not allowed. Any shoes that may damage the courts may not be worn - to be determined by the court attendant or, the club pro or a board member.​ Shirts shall be worn at all times. The Court Managers shall refuse playing time to Members and Guests who are not properly attired and specifically not wearing tennis court shoes.​​​

  • Clubhouse: Pets, bicycles, in-line skates, smoking, and alcohol are not permitted in the Clubhouse or on the courts.​Smoking of any type is not permitted in the Clubhouse on club grounds, or within a 9 metre radius of the tennis club.​​ No Member, Guest or Employee shall bring into the Clubhouse or club grounds any beer, wine, or spirits, nor shall he or she consume any beer, wine, or spirits in the Clubhouse or on the clubhouse grounds except as authorized for licensed events.

  • ​​Liability for lost or stolen property: The club is not responsible for tennis racquets, equipment or personal items brought onto the premises. Members are not allowed to store any personal belongings on club property. ​​

  • Pets: Well behaved pets are allowed, however, any pet that disturbs any member by barking etc must be removed with forthwith. All pet waste must be removed and discarded.​​

  • Announcements: All communication including bulletin board postings, mailings and/or flyer distribution for the benefit of the membership shall be administered and managed by the Communications Director. ​​

  • Guest Attendance: A $15 guest fee must be paid prior to play. We do not accept cash and guests can pay using a debit or credit card. Guests will be required to follow the same protocols as club members. Members must include both the players and guests names while booking. Guests must wear tennis shoes in order to play​​

  • Hours of Operations: The Club operation hours are from 7 am to dusk on weekdays and 8 am to dusk on weekends and holidays. If no courts are booked on Court Reserve, past 7pm, attendants will lock up the club if they have finished court maintenance. The club will be closed during inclement weather and when the courts are correspondingly out of play due to weather. The club is open to the public from 10 am – 12 pm and 2 - 4 pm, Monday to Friday for a fee of $15.00.​​

  • Court Change Times: The clock in the Court Manager’s Office is the official time. The playing period is sixty minutes (60) with courts 1 and 2 beginning on the half hour and courts 3, 4 and 5 beginning on the hour.​​

  • Court Reservations: All court reservations are done on Court Reserve. Doubles play takes priority when there is only one court available OR when courts are busy. When courts are busy, we ask that members who have already played give precedence to others who have not, so that all members arriving at the Club have an opportunity to use the courts.​​Members will respect the court attendant when guiding the court selection​​. Professional coaching by Club-designated pro only; the Club Pro has use of Court 5 for lessons. A limit of three balls per court. Exceptions include court 5 when lessons are in progress, and the divider net is up, and on court 4 when the divider net is in place. Members can use ball hoppers on courts 4 and 5 only, provided the divider net to the adjacent courts is in place. 

  • ​Rainouts: Playing on wet or damp courts shall not be permitted.

  • ​Court Etiquette: Access to Courts 2, 3, 4 and 5 via the north side only; use the first gate north of Court 1. Wait until a point is over before walking behind a court where a match is in progress or opening a gate.​ To retrieve a ball from another court or to return a ball to another court, wait until the players have completed a point. If there is any doubt as to whether a ball is out or good, you must give your opponent the benefit of the doubt and call the ball as good. You should not play a let.

  • ​Scoring: It is your obligation to call all balls on your side, to help your opponent make calls when the opponent requests it and to call against yourself any balls that you clearly see out on your opponent's side of the net. Any “out” or “let” call must be made instantaneously, that is, made before either an opponent has hit the return or the return has gone out of play; the ball continues in play. Do not enlist the aid of spectators in making line calls. If you call a ball out and then realize it was good, correct your call.​ To avoid controversy over the score, the Server should announce the set score before starting the game, and the game score prior to serving each point. If players cannot agree on the score, they may go back to the last score on which there was agreement and resume play from that point.​ Foot faults are not permitted. If an opponent persists in foot faulting after being warned not to do so, the Referee should be informed.​Turn off all pagers, beepers and cellphones so that noises shall not disturb or distract other players.​ Refrain from loud talking or laughter on or near the courts, and keep pets away from the courts, so that players shall not be distracted by noises.

  • Community: If your ball goes over the fence into a backyard, please ask the homeowner to return the ball or request permission before entering their yard.​ Members should keep noise to a minimum in consideration of neighbours, particularly on courts 1 and 5. 

  • ​Parking Rules: Park on the street whenever possible. Cottingham members may NOT park in the Cottingham Jr. Public School lot: Monday - Friday: 8:00 am - 4:00 pm. Saturday-Sunday: Any time in July and August. DO NOT park in the principal's or handicap spot! Members who violate these rules will be subject to suspension from the club. 

bottom of page