Rules / Bye Laws / Code Of Conduct

Downshire Tennis Club Rules / Bye Laws / Code of Conduct

Version 1 _Approved by DTC Committee – September 2023

Review date September 2026

All members and visitors must abide by the Club’s Constitution, rules, policies and guidelines. Club members and Club Officials must show tolerance, courtesy, good manners, fairness, honesty, integrity and sportsmanlike behaviour, in their dealings with other club members, officials, club members’ guests, playing and social visitors.

1. (a) Categories of Membership

There shall be the following membership categories:
a) Senior – members aged 24 or over on 31st of March of the membership year
b) Senior 65 plus – members aged 65 on 31st of March of the membership year
c) Senior under 30 – members aged under 30 on 31st of March of the membership year
d) Student 18-23 – members in full time 3rd level education in NI on 31st of March of the membership year
e) Student 18-23- members in full time 3rd level education outside NI on 31st of March of the membership year
f) Junior plus – members aged between 16 & 18 on 31st of March of the membership year
g) Junior – Members in year 8 to Age 15 on 31st March of the membership year
h) Juvenille – members in P1-P7 on the 31st March of the membership year
i) Honorary – granted at the discretion of the Management Committee.
j) Life Membership – The club offers Life Membership in limited numbers.

All members aged 18 or over in categories (a) – (d) and (j) are considered full members and are entitled to receive notice of, attend and vote at General Meetings.

The Committee shall have the power to amend and introduce membership fees and categories on a temporary basis as part of promotional activity undertaken for membership development.
As the Club has limited facilities, it may be necessary to regulate how many members it has, to enable it to carry out its objectives of providing facilities for, and promoting participation in tennis.

The Committee shall decide the maximum numbers to be admitted to each category of membership. If deemed necessary then the Club will maintain a waiting list of applicants for membership categories. Members will be admitted from this list in chronological order only. For example, the Club will not select members from the waiting list on the basis of sporting ability or whether their membership is supported by another member.

1. (b) Membership Fees

The membership year is 1st April until the 31st of March of the following year.
The annual club fees for the following membership year for the various categories of membership shall be determined annually by the Management Committee and ratified by the Annual General Meeting (AGM).

All members shall be notified of the membership renewal date by the Membership Secretary in respect of the annual fees as soon as practicable after 1 st March.
Any member whose annual fee has not been paid by 1st April shall be sent a reminder letter by the Membership Secretary. If the fee has not been paid by 14th April, the membership will cease and the space will be offered to persons on the club waiting list if present.

For members opting to pay by Direct Debit they must ensure that they comply with the agreed payment scheme. In such cases the 14 day rule will apply and their membership will be frozen.
No member shall be deemed eligible to represent the club unless the current annual fee has been paid.

No member shall exercise any right of membership until after payment of his first annual fee and entrance fee (if appropriate).

2. Use of Premises

The Club has 5 courts on 2 locations. The courts shall be open for play from 08:00 at Park Street Monday to Saturday and 09:00 hours on Sunday and each day at 07:00 at Old Coach Road ( OCR)
The last online court booking slot will be made available from 9:00pm to 10:00pm for all sites. When the dome is up play at OCR must stop at 10pm promptly.
Only in the case of League and Tournament matches can play continue beyond 11pm.

At Park Street, Court 3 should be booked first in preference during the evenings to reduce disruption to neighbours with noise and light.

The last players off all courts are responsible for locking the gates and ensuring the lights are off.
If you are the last to leave Old Coach Road regardless of the time of day, please lock the courts and the main gate.

Similarly if you are last to leave Park Street (regardless of the time of day), lock the front door of the clubhouse. Remember to lock the gate if you are the last to leave in the evening. The outdoor security lights have a timer and will switch off automatically.

Dome lighting should only be used when necessary and should be switched off when leaving the court if no-one else is playing and at the end of the day.

No food or drink is to be taken onto the courts except for water in bottles and other drinks, which must be in sealed drinking bottles.

All members shall provide their own tennis balls. Ball can metal ring pull lids are potentially dangerous and must be safely disposed of in the recycling bin in the Clubhouse or in courtside bins.

On no account must lids or any other litter be left on court.

Driving and Parking: Drive carefully and slowly at the club and use your lights. Members are welcome to park considerately at both facilities. Be mindful that children can be in the car park areas.

When entering Park Street courts , as a courtesy to players try and dim car headlights.
Care should be taken when entering or leaving OCR as oncoming traffic driving at high speed is a significant hazard.

When considered to be unfit for play, or when required for maintenance, the groundsman, or any member of the Committee shall have the power to close any court for the preservation of the ground.

3. (a) Online Court Booking Rules

i.An Online Court Booking may only be made during the Booking Window (seven days ahead plus two hours)
ii.Only Registered Members may make Online Court Bookings
iii.Members are permitted a maximum of number “live” bookings – made up of a Off-Peak and Peak bookings
iv.Peak times and number of peak/offpeak courts allowed will vary throughout the year and Members will be notified accordingly.
v.The Member making the Online Court Booking must attend
vi.An Online Court Booking must include the Member making the booking plus either one or three other Members. All Members playing must be recorded at the time of booking.
vii.Members must not use another members account to make a booking before or after they reached their maximum allocated slots.
viii.Consecutive Online Court Bookings (one Booking immediately following the other) may not involve the same set of Players
ix.If the court on which Member(s) are playing has not been booked for the next booking slot, then play may continue without having to book the court online
x.Junior Plus members may make Online Court Bookings for Off-Peak times only.
xi.Juvenile and Junior Members may not make Online Court Bookings, but may play at Peak and Off- Peak times with a Senior Member who has made an Online Court Booking and added the Juvenile or Junior Member to the booking
Special Booking Requests – All requests for court bookings outside of normal Booking Conditions must be made via email to bookings@downshiretennis.co.uk for consideration.

3 (b) Coaching

All coaching at Downshire Tennis Club must be arranged by or through the authorised club coach. No coaching at Downshire Tennis Club can take place without the approval of the club’s Committee.
All coaching must be visible on the court booking system.

3 (c) Abuse of the booking system

Members who continue to abuse the booking system may be subject to the following:
 Infomal warning- conversation between Chairperson and member expressing concerns at a member’s current conduct and the consequences if the member continues with the behaviour.
 Removal of booking rights for a specified period – preventing the member(s) from making bookings but allow the member(s) to be added to a booking made by another member within playing quota limits.

 Suspension of membership for a specified period – preventing the member(s) from making bookings and removing the member(s) from the list of members to add to a booking made by another member.

3 (d) Cancellation

If Members are no longer able to play a booked session, then they must cancel the court as soon as they possibly can. This ensures that the cancellation immediately becomes bookable by Members
Cancellation Notifications: The Club’s AceBook system allows Members to register to receive notifications of Online Court Booking cancellations via email. This is available in each Member’s profile. To enable cancellation notifications, click on the box entitled “I would like to know every time a cancellation occurs” and choose which booking slots you wish to be informed about by selecting I agree to be contactable by another player to play a game.

4. Visitors
Any member (aged 16 or over) may introduce visitors to the Club other than those whose applications for membership have been declined or who have been expelled from the Club.
The guest name must be entered into the guest book before playing and visitor fee paid on line. Visitors’ fees shall be determined by the Committee. The current fees can be found in Acebook under Docs.

A visitor is entitled to use all of the club’s facilities. The member is responsible for the behaviour and safety of their visitor and the visitor has a responsibility to adhere to the rules of the club.
No one may be admitted as a visitor on more than three occasions in any one membership year.
The Committee shall have the power to amend visitor fees and to waive the number of visits on a temporary basis.

5. On Court Etiquette:
This is generally common sense and courtesy. If you are new to tennis, feel free to ask existing members about tennis etiquette or scoring.
 You do not need to wear white – your choice of sportswear and appropriate footwear (tennis shoes/trainers) is fine.
 All players should behave appropriately on court – no shouting, swearing or abuse of other players and be mindful of others on adjacent courts.
 Please close the court gates when you play.
 Keeping score is the server’s responsibility, who can call before each point.
 If the ball rests on your side of the court, it is your job to return it to the server between points.
 It is unavoidable to occasionally hit a ball into a neighbouring court – a quick apology is fine.
 Avoid retrieving balls from another court during play – wait for the point to end. Return any stray
balls from another court when all players are between points.
 Out or in? It is your call when the ball is on your side of the net. A ball that touches any part of the
line is called in.
 If there are discrepancies regarding the score, go back to the score you both agree on and
commence play form that point.

6. Responsibility

Neither the Club nor any member of the Committee can be held responsible for any loss or injury sustained whilst on the Club’s premises. Players make their own decision as to their fitness to play and the playing surface and conditions at the time they play.
These Rules/Bye Laws/Code of Conduct are to be enforced by all Club Members, not ONLY the Committee Members.
Failure to abide by these Club Rules/ Bye Laws/ Code of Conduct or harassment of any Committee Member or Club Member trying to enforce these, shall result in the offending member having disciplinary procedures brought against them. For details of the clubs disciplinary and appeals procedure please refer to the “DTC Disciplinary and Appeal Procedure Policy”
Any dispute shall be referred for settlement to any member of the Committee who may be present or sent in writing to the Chair or Club Secretary. Disputes or complaints shall be dealt with in accordance with the Club’s Disciplinary and Appeals Procedure and Article 16 of the Club’s Constitution.