Tennis Rules and Guidelines

GC Casino Tennis Program

Tennis Co-Chairs: Joanna Ostrowski and Kevin Kiely

Tennis Committee Members: Patty Hamilton, Erin Doherty, Michael Quinn, Barry Dillen

Roles and Responsibilities

Tennis Chairs: Responsible for the strategic planning and administration of the annual Tennis Program. Together with the Tennis Committee, they enforce the tennis rules and guidelines listed in this document.

Operations Manager: Responsible for the care and maintenance of the tennis courts to accommodate the Tennis Program. Reports directly to the Tennis Chairs and the President of the Board of Governors. The Tennis Assistants report directly to the Operations Manager, Pete Trapani.

·        Court Maintenance includes watering, rolling, maintaining tapes, nets, etc. Every Day between 12:30 pm – 2:00pm. Court closing decisions will be made only by the Operations Manager and or the Tennis Chairs or named Tennis Committee members. Members will be notified if there is an unscheduled court closing via email and posted on Playbypoint.com.

·        All members are expected to assist in keeping the tennis area clean.

The Clubhouse (Main Building) will remain open to Members until at least 6:30 pm every night. The Operations Manager will ensure that a person of responsibility is on hand to “lock up” at appropriate times. Members of the Board of Governors and the Tennis Committee have the authority to enforce tennis rules and regulations concerning guests, dress code and conduct, and may direct violators to leave the courts.

Tennis Rules and Guidelines

Introduction: The Casino offers a wide variety of tennis activities which include tournament play for all members, team tennis for men and women who compete throughout Long Island in inter-club matches, social tennis round robins and other Special Events.

Please refer to the Casino website at Playbypoint.com or the Playbypoint app which will contain all the information listed below. If you have any questions, please direct them to the Tennis Chairs: Jeanne Hart, Joanna Ostrowski and Kevin Kiely. Check the Casino Directory for contact information. The Courts are managed by our Operations Manager, Pete Trapani who shall report directly to the Tennis Chairs and the Board of Governors, President Drew Wozniak. These rules will be strictly enforced by the Tennis Chairs, Tennis Committee and The Board of Governors. All members are expected to follow them.

A) Hours of Play

Court Opening: The Courts are open daily from sunrise to approximately 30 minutes before sunset unless otherwise posted by the Operations Manager. The weekly schedule of tennis activities will be posted online at Playbypoint.com or on the Playbypoint app. Members should refer to it daily as sometimes the scheduled activities may change.

Court Closing: The Courts will be closed from 12:30 pm until 2:00 pm everyday 7 days a week. The time is subject to change to prepare courts to accommodate tennis events such as on:

(a) Fridays/Saturdays when Round Robins are held

(b) Saturdays, Sundays, and Holidays, or later in the day subject to the Operations Manager's discretion. Court closure time can take place upon the recommendation of the Operations Manager and the Tennis Chairs.

The membership will be notified via email. Only the Operations Manager authorized by the Tennis Chairs, may put the courts back in service. We ask that Casino members alert the Tennis Chairs and do not attempt to rectify problems with the courts themselves. All members should use proper judgment when playing on the courts at the Casino. Please advise the Tennis Chairs if you suspect that there is a problem with court playability. This action will avoid damage to the courts which can put the courts out of service for a prolonged period.

B) Sign-up Procedures

1. General guidelines for signing up for court play

·        All members must use the Playbypoint reservation system to book a court. Every member is entitled to book and play no more than twice a day. This rule does not include special events offered by the GC Casino such as Open Play, Burger Night, Ladies Night, and Mixed Round Robin events/socials.

·        All women who play in a home match for their NSWTL team are restricted to reserve or play additional times during the same day. Participation in GC Casino special events are excluded from this rule.

·        Court 4 cannot be utilized by team members of the NSWTL team scheduled to play a home match. (9:30 – 11:00am)

2. Weekend guidelines for court play: Saturday, Sunday, and Holiday Sign up

Between 7:00 am and 12:30 pm, no member of a pre-arranged group may sign up for a Court until all four members are present. All other eligible individuals who sign up on those days and during those times shall play in order in which they sign up. The first 4 players who are waiting to play have control of the next available court and each consecutive foursome after that as courts become available. If a set group has 1 to 3 players in front of them those players have control of the next available court. They can get players from those waiting after the set group or if there are none available can take players from the group coming off the court. The set group will then have the next available court.

One hour during open play is the maximum amount of time allowed when there are other players waiting.

C) Court Priorities

Tournament matches, unless approved by the Tennis Chairs, must vacate their court if time has elapsed. Individuals who have played one hour, on the weekend and holidays, are to vacate their court when players are waiting to play regardless of the number of hours those waiting players may have already played during the open play session.

If no one is waiting to play, it would be appropriate for the original group to continue playing past their hour until bumped by a new group and then leave the court as a group and sign up for a new hour.

1.      Open Tennis: Open Doubles play, Saturday, Sunday and Holidays, sunrise to 12:30 am. Full- time working persons and persons who have retired from a full-time working position have priority on Saturday, Sunday and Holiday mornings from 7:00 am until 11:00 am. After 11:00 am, open play rules apply to all members. Doubles have priority during this time.

No guests are permitted during this time. Single players and non-priority doubles players (e.g., non-full time working persons) are entitled to sign up for empty courts before 11:00 am but are subject to being bumped by priority doubles players before 11:00 am. Non-priority doubles players have preference over singles. Non-priority doubles or singles players may not sign their names on the board until all members of their respective groups are present. Neither non-priority group has priority over any priority doubles group before 11:00 am regardless of how many hours the priority group has played that morning.

·        Tournament Matches should not begin before 11:00am and can play for 2 hours with permission from Tennis Chairs. The Tennis Chairs have the authority to make decisions concerning Club Championship Tournaments.

·        Women’s Team Tennis: North Shore Women's League GC Casino hosts team matches from 9:30 am until 11:30 am on the following days. On home match days, all members must vacate the courts for court preparation at 9:30am. The Women’s Home Matches are scheduled on the following days: Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday & Friday. 

Please be aware NSWTL home matches have priority until match is completed. Members are encouraged to check the Casino reservation system for court availability. The schedule is subject to change to accommodate special circumstances such as inclement weather.

·        Men’s Team Tennis: The Senior Men’s Tennis Team holds home matches on scheduled Tuesday evenings. The courts close at 5:00 pm to membership. The scheduled home matches are listed in the reservation system. Members are encouraged to check the reservation system for court closings.

·        Wednesday Evenings Burger Night: All Male members who have signed up through the reservation system have priority from 5:00 pm to closing. No guests are permitted to attend.

·        Thursday Evenings Ladies Nights: All female members who have registered through the reservation system have priority from 5:00pm to closing. No guests are permitted to attend.

·        Friday & Saturday Social Events: Organized tennis social events for men and women. Members must sign up via the Playbypoint reservation system. Courts close to membership at 5:00pm. The dates are listed in the reservation system and membership will be notified via email.

D) Guests

Both adult and junior guests must be registered via registration system PRIOR to play. Guest fees are $30 resident and $15 non-resident. All guests, including Casino House Members, must be registered by the sponsoring Tennis member. Failure to register a guest will result in an assessment of a $25 fine (in addition to the guest fee) to the errant member’s account. Flagrant violation of this rule may lead to suspension or revocation of membership. No individual may be a guest more than twice in any calendar month. Members are responsible for determining whether their guests have played previously that month. A member who invites any person (Garden City resident or not) who already has been a guest two times in any calendar month will be billed a non-appealable $50.00 fine for each occurrence. This rule applies whether the guest in question has played previously at the invitation of the same Member or another Member. These rules do not apply to the Member/Guest Tournaments. Guests are not permitted to play before 2:00 pm.

F) Dress Policy

The Garden City Casino dress policy calls for conventional tennis attire to be worn at all times on the tennis courts. It applies to all Members and their guests. As a general guideline, Gentlemen’s shirts and shorts must not contain more color then the pre -approved GC Casino sponsored shirts. For Gentlemen Tennis shirts with collars, ladies may wear Tennis shirts without collars or sleeves. Ladies may also wear pastels, if pastels are worn, a combination of white and pastel is preferred. Tennis Sneakers must be predominantly white.

For a more comprehensive guide to the GC Casino dress code, please go to the “Tennis Dress Code” tab on the GC Casino Reservation System (PlaybyPoint)

G) Court Etiquette

Civility, consideration, and respect should be exhibited to your partner, opponents, and all members. All members are expected to exhibit good sportsmanship on and off the courts.

·        Do not enter patio while play is in process on Court 1.

·        At your scheduled time, please use gates to access courts 2, 3 & 4.

If an issue comes up and it can’t be resolved, please refer to the rules and if necessary, contact the Tennis Chairs.

H) 911 Policy

As members of a club whose primary activity is physically rigorous, it is important to remember that proper nourishment and hydration are necessary both before, during and after play. If while you are playing, you feel weak or excessively fatigued, stop and seek a shady area until the discomfort passes. Do not resume play until you are sure the condition has passed.

If you observe anyone at the Club who is in apparent distress from heat related or any other medical reason, including injury, do not hesitate to call 911 to seek appropriate medical attention. When in doubt, make the call and let the trained emergency personnel determine whether any further attention is in order.