Many sports clubs across the country had to close their doors due to the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, but slowly, many are being reopened, depending on what part of the country and what tier they find themselves in.
Gloucestershire has been placed in Tier 2 lockdown which thankfully means the East Glos Club, which contains tennis, squash and hockey facilities, has been able to reopen its doors to the public.

Speaking to club manager Darren Morris, he explained that is has been a tough time for tennis and squash players since March when the lockdowns began, but because of the nature of the sport, they were able to reopen their doors to members with all the safety measures in place.
“As with everyone in the whole country it has been a difficult time for tennis & squash players from East Glos Club during both lockdowns. Tennis was in a privileged position after the first lockdown in that it was able to re-open before other sports, alongside golf and therefore we saw lots of members coming back to play and socialise with friends (socially distanced).“
The club also made a brilliant gesture in allowing the squash members access to the tennis courts while their squash facilities remained shut.
“We allowed our squash members the option to play tennis while squash courts remained closed,” Morris added.
“We also welcomed new members at East Glos who wanted to take the opportunity to play“.
A fine gesture from a club, especially in times like these.
Morris went on to speak about how the sports club took on help from the government, but were unfortunate to lose a lot of income for crucial areas of their business.
“The club has benefitted from government support schemes, however has had to minimise running costs with a loss of income for coaching programmes and hospitality, as well as other areas of the business“.
Morris ended with praise for the continued support of their members and hopes the club will continue to grow in 2021, also mentioning the new work being carried out regarding their tennis facilities.
“The membership has remained good and shown a lot of support for the Club and hopefully with a vaccine on the horizon will grow in 2021 with the introduction of padel tennis to the Club, with work currently being carried out to install three new courts.“
It is in times like these that sports clubs of this capacity require all the support they need to stay afloat and hopefully with the government continuing to fund organisations like the East Glos club and with the great support they receive from members, they can continue to provide the people with something that means so much to them.