Tennis Section Internal Policy

USRC Tennis Section – Rules & Guidelines Summary (version 10, 10/9/25)
Published by Tennis Section Sub-committee
 
Amendment:
Section F.1.b   Standardize the minimum number of players across the existing & new teams.
Section F.1.b   No external players for teams joining leagues without a demotion mechanism.
Section F.1.i    Each player can enrol in one league only within the same or similar period.
Section F.4.a   Team practices hours start from 6:00 pm on weekdays.
 
Index:

1. Tennis Section Sub-committee & Membership
2. Tennis Court Booking
3. Use of Tennis Courts
4. Guest Players
5. Social Tennis
6. Tennis Teams
7. Coaching
8. Communication

 
A. Tennis Section Sub-committee & Membership:

1. The Tennis Section Sub-committee is to be elected by votes of registered tennis section members (for details, please refer to the Bye-Laws of the Club, Page 13 – 22). The sub-committee’s purpose is to promote tennis sports & foster engagement. Its roles & functions include planning, organizing, deciding & reviewing of the following, but not limited to, tennis teams, budget, external tournaments participation, internal events, rules, membership, etc, for the Tennis Section of USRC (Tennis Section AGM motion #5 passed in December 2024).
2. For those USRC members who want to participate & play in the Tennis Section’s team games, events, & leagues for that year, need to register as Tennis Section member by submitting the ‘Sports Section Membership Application Form’. Club administration fee (currently $20) & levy (if any) will be charged to each section member annually.

 
B. Tennis Courts Booking (Bye-Laws Page 23):

1. All USRC members (age > 14) could make a 7-day advance booking with the reception by phone or in person, or USRC mobile app.
2. Singles – 1 hour by a single member.
3. Doubles – 2 consecutive hours by two members using two different membership numbers.
4. Only a maximum of 2 bookings per membership number are permitted per day.
5. Before occupying a court, the booking is to be confirmed at reception. The member holding the booking should be present on that court for the duration of the session.
6. On completion of a session, if the court has not been booked for the next period, the court may be used for a further session, provided a new booking is made at the reception.
7. If the court is not occupied within 10 minutes of the appointed time, the booking is forfeited, and the court may be re-booked by another member.
8. Cancellation may be made with the following minimum notice:
   1. Same day play – before 12:00 noon for afternoon or evening play.
   2. Next day play – before 10:00 pm for next day play.
   3. Cancellation outside these periods or no-show may incur a penalty unless a reasonable explanation can be given to the General Manager.

 
C. Use of Tennis Courts (Bye-Laws Page 23):

1. Appropriate tennis attire must be worn.
2. No smoking or food will be permitted on the courts.
3. Children under the age of 11 are to be accompanied by & under the supervision of an adult member.

 
D.  Guest Players:

1. No guest allowed between 6:00 pm to 9:00 pm on weekdays, between 1:00 pm to 6:00 pm on Saturdays, and before 2:00 pm on public holidays (Bye-Laws Page 23).
2. Guest player needs to sign in at the reception, with a guest fee of HK$50 per entry.

 
E.  Social Tennis:

1. Tennis courts 1 & 2 are reserved on every Saturday & Sunday from 3:00 pm to 7:00 pm & 3:00 pm to 8:00 pm respectively for social tennis purposes for all Tennis Section Members. No guest allowed.
2. These courts are mainly for doubles matches. If there are player(s) waiting, the match should be limited to a total of 8 games.

 
F.  Tennis Teams:

1. Team Formation & League Enrolment
   1. All players of the teams, except the guest players & USRC registered coaches, must be a member of the Tennis Section.
   2. Adult teams: The existing or new teams must consist of at least 12 players, of whom at least 9 should be Tennis Section members. The maximum registered players per team are limited to 20, including up to 3 external players (either JAS or guest players). For teams participating in matches of the leagues/ division without demotion mechanism, no external players will be allowed.
   3. Junior teams: The team must consist of 12 players, including at least 7 tennis section members & up to 5 external players (either JAS or guest players).
   4. The overall average of external players’ playing ratio per match should not exceed 34% in a league season for adult teams, and 50% for junior teams. Any team violating the above will not be entitled to the Club’s resources subsidy in the next league season.
   5. New team formation is subject to the approval of the Tennis Section Sub-committee with consideration of the resources, players’ level & team mix.
   6. Team captain needs to fill in the league tournament entry form with all the required information and send it to the Tennis Convenor or delegate for checking & processing before the deadline given.
   7. All league tournament entry forms must be endorsed by the tennis convenor and the USRC Sports Office.
   8. Any registered tennis team player(s) who have not played the HKCTA Summer or Winter Leagues for 3 consecutive seasons (counting from 1st December 2022), will be removed from the upcoming HKCTA Leagues registration for at least 2 years. Subsequent rejoining will be subject to the captain’s & convenor’s decision.
   9. To balance the resources allocation & enhance more chance of playing league games amongst the members, within the same or similar period (e.g.,>50% overlapping), each registered player could enroll in one league tournament only.

1. League Tournament
   1. After the release of the league schedule, the adult league team captains need to make advance reservations of 3 tennis courts from 7:00 pm to 10:00 pm on all the scheduled & rescheduled home match dates in writing with the reception. For Junior Teams, the captains need to make an advance reservation of 3 tennis courts from 6:00 pm to 9:00 pm on all the scheduled & rescheduled home match dates in writing with the reception. Each team is allowed to make an advance booking of 1 court an hour earlier for the scheduled home match warming up.
   2. For scheduled & rescheduled home matches, the team captain could claim 3 bottles of balls from the reception before the match and update the results to the HKCTA League System online themselves within 1 day.
2. Team Subsidy
   1. The Tennis Section shall pay the league tournament entry fee for the approved tennis teams.
   2. The Tennis Section shall pay the HKCTA annual membership fee on behalf of all those section members who have registered as the team players of HKCTA Summer League or Junior Autumn League tournaments collectively in April & July, respectively annually, with a subsidy of HK$200. The payment balance will be debited from the members’ account in the next month. Afterward, a claim or payment will not be entertained. JAS & guest players need to pay this fee themselves.
   3. Tennis Section shall provide 3 bottles of tennis balls to each approved team for playing league tournament scheduled & rescheduled home matches.
   4. Under the reciprocal dinner treatment recommendation of the HKCTA adult leagues, each approved team will be subsidized a maximum of HK$500 for each scheduled HKCTA league tournament home match. The meal must be taken within USRC after the completion of the scheduled/rescheduled home match, with the captain’s sign-off on the meal subsidy roster. For the junior regular league, each team will be subsidized a maximum of HK$300 for snack ordering before each scheduled home match. These subsidies do not apply to walk-over by the away team, a home match not finished with rescheduling, or a non-scheduled home match (e.g., play-off).
   5. All approved teams winning the champion or 1st runner up of the league tournaments will be awarded of HK$2,000 or HK$1,000 for meal celebration subsidy respectively.
3. Team Practice
   1. During the season breaks, each approved regular team is eligible to make advance booking of 1 tennis court for 3 consecutive hours once every week after 6:00 pm (except weekends & public holidays) for team practice purposes.
   2. All team players, including JAS & listed guest players, can join the team practice without a guest fee.
   3. The maximum number of teams for team practice per evening is 2. Should there be more than 2 teams booking for team practice on the same evening, priority will be given to the team(s) who used to have their HKCTA League matches on that week-date.
4. Friendly Match
   1. Each approved team is entitled to host a friendly match at USRC with an external registered sports club/ association once during the season break of the HKCTA Summer & Winter Leagues. Prior application & approval is required by filling & submitting the Friendly Match Application Form from the Receptionist.
   2. Each regular team could make advance booking of 3 tennis courts for 3 consecutive hours after 6:00 pm for the endorsed friendly match on the same date of its scheduled league match week-date, except public holidays.
   3. Each tennis team could claim 3 bottles of tennis balls from the reception for the endorsed friendly match.
   4. The team captain needs to observe the rules or health guidelines issued by USRC whenever it is applicable on the day of the match.
   5. Each tennis team could determine the match format themselves.

G. Coaching:

1. Only tennis coaches appointed by the Club are permitted to coach at USRC. Any other coaching, whether or not a fee is involved, is not permitted.
   
2. Coach could make advance booking of 1 court for coaching any time before 6:00 pm weekdays & before 1:00 pm on Saturdays. Coaching at any time apart from the above-mentioned timing, the court needs to be booked by members following the ordinary courts booking rule. The coach/ member should cancel the booking as soon as possible if the coaching appointment is cancelled.

 
H. Communication:

1. To enhance communication with the Section Members effectively & efficiently, the Tennis Section Sub-committee is currently using the following communication channels: Notice Board, Club Magazine – Oasis, Tennis Section News, WhatsApp, Facebook, Instagram, email, surveys, team captain meetings, AGM, etc.
2. Section members & team members are highly encouraged to post & share their match/ training/ events/ awards photos from time to time on Facebook & Instagram, or send the information to the Sub-committee for newsletter drafting.
3. The social media, e.g., WhatsApp, Facebook & Instagram, are open to Tennis Section Members only. Users, please show respect by not posting disgusting or hostile photos/ pictures/ messages, sharing fake information, publishing commercial ads, disclosing personal information, violating Hong Kong laws, etc.
4. For WhatsApp, as it is a push notification system, each message shall cost the attention of over 100 Section Members. To maintain its effectiveness & eliminate unnecessary attention of all the Section Members, please do not use WhatsApp ‘USRC Tennis Section’ chat group for suggestions, complaints, group discussion, personal or commercial sharing. This chat group should be used mainly for fast & large group tennis-related notifications.
5. Queries, suggestions, complaints about tennis-related matters, please send it to the Tennis Convenor or Tennis Section Sub-committee members verbally or in writing through Facebook, personal WhatsApp, small chat group or email. The sub-committee shall acknowledge the complaint received within 2 days & reply within 2 weeks.
   

Tennis Section
10 September 2025