Vancouver to begin reopening tennis, pickleball courts Saturday

The City of Vancouver will begin reopening tennis and pickleball courts this weekend, with new precautions to protect against COVID-19.

The courts were among a variety of Vancouver Park Board facilities that closed mid-March as the first wave of the novel coronavirus broke in the region.

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B.C. unveiled its four-phase plan to reopen the economy earlier this week, following modelling that showed the province could keep control of COVID-19 if people stuck to 60 per cent of their normal social contacts.

The reopening will happen in phases, with precautions based on consultations with Tennis BC and the Vancouver Pickleball Association.

The board says 53 tennis courts at seven locations — Kitsilano Beach and in Stanley, Queen Elizabeth, Strathcona, Trout Lake, Memorial South, and Champlain parks — will be open Saturday.

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It says the remaining courts will open throughout the week, with all 135 courts available by Friday, May 15.

Players wishing to use the facilities will need to follow a series of new rules:

• Keep 2 metres apart at all times
• Limit play to singles, or doubles play with partners from the same household
• Queue outside the courts and maintain two metres distance when courts are in use
• Do not share racquets or other equipment (for pickleball, bring your own net)
• Clearly mark your ball and refrain from picking up others’ tennis or pickleballs
• Casual game play only: no lessons or league play allowed
• Remain courteous and limit play time to 30 mins when others are waiting
• Leave the court when you are done

Players are also asked to wash their hands and equipment frequently, and stay away from the courts if they are feeling at all ill.

The move comes a week after the board reopened VanDusen Botanical Gardens and the municipal McCleery and Fraserview golf courses. The city-owned Langara Golf Course is also slated to reopen May 15.