ILOILO City – The long wait is over.
Ilonggo tennis players may now swish their rackets as Iloilo City Mayor Jerry Treñas gave the green light to reopen the La Paz tennis court.
The decision was reached following a consultation meeting initiated by the city government through the Office of Sports under executive assistant Rudiver Jungco with Ilonggo tennis players on May 23.
Tennis is one of the sports allowed by the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-EID) for areas under general community quarantine (GCQ).
It was finalized during the meeting that only players aged 21 to 59 will be allowed to play, players should wear face masks and bring alcohol and the La Paz Tennis Court will only be open for action from 6 a.m. to 8 p.m. every day.
For matches, only the singles format will be allowed with 45 minutes maximum of playing time. This means only two players and a ball boy may step on each court. Handshake and any other forms of physical contact are also strictly prohibited.
Sharing of equipment such as racket and water bottles, among others is also not allowed. It is also mandatory to use separate set of balls per court.
Players waiting for their turns and spectators, on the other hand, should stay outside of the playing courts.
Aside from tennis, other sports activities allowed by the IATF-EID under GCQ are walking, jogging, running, biking, golf, swimming, badminton, equestrian, and skateboarding./PN
