Danielle Rosensweig is happy to be back in play after a pandemic, pregnancy and relocation.
The avid tennis player moved to Barrie from Florida during the pandemic at a time when the Barrie Tennis Club, like most other groups, had suspended activities.
“It was very difficult for me” after the delay, having previously played four/five days per week, said Rosenweig, who has since returned to the courts.
The Barrie Tennis Club is based at the city’s courts at Queen’s Park and is equipped with its own building reserved for members. Members, divided into skill levels, play on the downtown courts weekends and evenings.
The summer prior to the pandemic there were 126 active members creating what club secretary Shirley Beattie calls a vibrant atmosphere and spirit.
“There were over 35 folks on the wait list interested in joining the club. Interest in tennis is Barrie was booming with the rise of many professional Canadian tennis players such as Bianca Andreescu, Felix Auger Aliassime and Denis Shapovalov,” she explained.
There was no play in 2020 and although the clubhouse was closed the following year, there was some scheduled league play following the easing of COVID-19 safety protocols.
But that year, only 91 members registered.
This past May, the club and clubhouse resumed full operations with a membership of 112.
Registration is now closed, but Beattie said there will be room for new members. Typically, membership is reserved for Barrie residents, but there is an opportunity for those in outlying communities to participate.
The club is now cautiously offering all its normal programs for members: tennis clinics, mini tournaments, a children's summer tennis camp and, hopefully, the club championships at the end of the season.
This year, for the first time in two years, the club is offering kids' tennis camps for one week in each of July and August.
Like many other groups, the pandemic closures imposed a financial burden on the club.
Beattie said the decline in membership and increases in operating costs meant that those who did join had to pay more.
“Most notably, the cost of securing insurance for the club has doubled since 2019, and although the Ontario Tennis Association has provided some financial relief this year through government grants, the club will have to bear this added cost in future years,” said Beattie.
“Tennis is a growing sport in Barrie with lots of interest and the club is committed to rebuilding its membership and delivering its full scope of programs. We are cautiously moving forward and look forward to an active post-COVID season.”
Beattie stressed that it is an inclusive community club available to those at all levels of play and the goal is to simply have fun
Rosensweig, happy to get back to tennis after all the interruptions, is getting used to doing it Canadian style - only in the summer. Although she is aware others locally play year round thanks to the bubble in Midhurst.
“It’s a very intense tennis world down there” in Florida, playing year-round, she said. “You actually travel and compete against other leagues.”
Meanwhile here, “it’s friendly, co-ordinated play.”
She says it's fortunate the Barrie club organizes members according to their level of play and availability.
“The executive committee is very organized,” she said. “It’s a very friendly group of people.”
