HC Rec & Parks are opening PB Courts as of 5/7 - As per the Howard County Recreation & Parks (HCRP)web site, they will be following Gov. Hogan's direction and opening up PB and tennis courts as of Thurs. Please use caution when returning to play considering there are still ways for you to become infected. Recommend you review the USAPA guidance that is listed under COVID-19 New menu item on our web site. The following link provides access to HCRP's announcement.
Our Association's Plans for Returning to Play - Our board is working on our plans to return to play safely. We intend to incorporate the USAPA guidance as well as some of our own ideas. We will be seeking input from our members via a survey form which we will be creating in the near future. Some of the ideas we have discussed so far include: establishing a set 4 people to play on a court for an hour, taping lines on a court to create a smaller singles court, recommend each person have their own ball and only have others touch it with their paddle (i.e. return it by hitting it back, along the ground), washing the balls in between games, request masks be worn when not playing, establishing 3 - 1 hour sessions to setup nets for, limiting the number of people to attend one session, etc. Once we setup our survey, we will send it out for your input. Please be patient since it will take us some time to pull all of these plans together and then organize the effort. The announcement yesterday did not lift the stay-at-home requirements and that groups of 10 or more should not be gathering. Social distancing is still highly recommended. If you would like to submit some ideas on what to include on the survey, you are welcome to send an email to hocopball@gmail.com.
Columbia Association's Plans - We are attempting to learn what CA is planning to do so we can utilize their PB facilities - this includes the Owen Brown Tennis Club courts as well as the Open Space courts located at the Ice Rink, Locust Park and Vantage Park. Once we learn what their planning we will inform you.
Please continue to stay isolated and adhere to the state's COVID-19 directives. We want our members to stay healthy.