Tennis Courts

Management of the Park Forest Tennis Facility is delegated to the Park Forest Homeowners Association (PFHOA) Tennis Committee based on the rules established in this document. The PFHOA board will review these rules along with changes submitted by the tennis committee on an annual basis to ensure that rules best serve the tennis needs of the Park Forest and Park Creek residents.

The Tennis Committee will consist of the Tennis Committee chairperson, appointed by the PFHOA board, team captains and co-captains and other interested residents approved by the tennis committee chairperson. The chairperson of the committee shall report on any open issues to the PFHOA board in person or in writing at each PFHOA meeting. The Tennis chairperson is to be notified of all meetings in which he/or she should be present at least 72 hours in advance.

• The two tennis courts adjacent to the pool shall be referred top as the “pool courts” and the two tennis courts located in the park shall be referred to as the “park courts”.
• Players on all courts shall be residents of Park Forest or Park Creek and their accompanied guests.
• Residents are not allowed to bring outside teams to play on Park Forest courts. The Tennis committee must approve any play involving special circumstances. Residents are responsible for their guests and are limited to the use of one court.
• All players are responsible for locking courts, turning off lights, and putting trash in its place after the play is finished.
• Appropriate tennis shoes are to be worn (no black soled shoes allowed). Shirts are to be worn at all times.
• Spectators are to remain outside the fenced area. Proper tennis etiquette and courtesy should be followed at all times.
• Motorized vehicles, skateboards, bicycles, skates, scooters and any other equipment not related to tennis is strictly prohibited on courts.
• Food, gum, tobacco products and glass are prohibited on courts.

Club House Usage

Each Park Forest/Park Creek ALTA or USTA team may use the Park Forest clubhouse for home matches as long as each team submits a $250.00 deposit to the tennis committee chairperson. This money will be refunded at the end of the season provided:

• The clubhouse was continually left clean after matches, and no damage was done.
• Court trash (including trash cans) is emptied after every home match.
• The clubhouse key is returned to the tennis committee chair.
• No children under the age of 14 are allowed in the clubhouse without a parent or guardian present.
• A written warning will be issued at first offense. All paid rentals take precedence over league use.

Tennis Team Play     

Use of the courts for league play including camps and clinics) must be approved by the PFHOA tennis committee before play. Proposals for teams, camps, clinics, and lessons should be submitted to the tennis committee and include dates and times for practices and matches and the number and names of people comprising each team/camp/clinic/lesson. Once this information is provided the team captain will receive a different access code to reserve court practice and match time for the season.

**Please reserve only your home matches**

No lessons shall be given on Park Forest courts to non-residents with the exception of those non-residents who are members of Park Forest/Park Creek ALTA or USTA teams during a team season.

All Park Forest and Park Creek residents should be notified of the formation of new teams.

Each team must consist of at least two Park Forest or Park Creek residents. Nonresidents will be required to pay a $25 fee per season (Spring ALTA, Fall ALTA, etc.), with a max per-person annual fee (Jan-Dec) of $50 to participate in Park Forest teams. The fee for juniors is $10 per season, an annual max $20.

Tennis teams who play on weekdays shall also practice on weekdays before 3:00 pm. Teams whose matches are on weekends shall practice on weeknights.

Night practices may occupy both lighted courts no more than (2) hours. Night team practices or lessons are prohibited on Friday evenings. Teams may make up matches on Fridays if approved by the tennis committee.

Matches may be scheduled for three courts.

Once a match begins and the 4th park court remains vacant and not reserved, a team may elect to use it after a waiting period of one hour.

Make-ups of suspended or postponed matches will have priority but should be scheduled to cause the least disruption in court scheduling.

I. PARK FOREST TENNIS COURT REGULATIONS

1. Courts are for residents and their guests to play tennis.
2. Access to courts requires an Access Fob and a resident with an Access Fob must be present on the court and there must be at least one resident in each singles or doubles group (see exception * for teams).
3. Non-tennis related activities/equipment are not allowed on the courts and pets are not allowed on courts.
4. ReserveMyCourt.com (RMC) is to be used for all reservations (Contact HOA for login credentials and FOB).
5. Recurring reservations are only allowed by teams or for special tennis activity approved by the HOA.
6. Reservations and walk-up play are limited to 2 hours per day per registered HOA account.
7. Reservations for sanctioned matches are limited to 2.5 hours: Details must be noted in RMC.
8. Extended court time is allowed for walk-up and reservations if no one is waiting for a court.
9. Unoccupied courts are always open for resident walk-up play; however, during sanctioned matches and team practices, walk-up play cannot be used for lessons or ball machine practice, and walk-up play must be discontinued if it continuously interferes with the scheduled practice or sanctioned match.
10. Reservations will be forfeited if more than 15 minutes late.

II. PARK FOREST TEAM REGULATIONS

1. Teams playing weekend matches practice on weeknights; weekday teams practice on weekdays.
2. Captains must be residents and must maintain approximately a 50% resident participation level.
3. Non-resident participants must pay a participation fee of $25 per season, per team, per person.
4. Teams are limited to one two-hour practice per week Monday thru Thursday. Only one team per night.
5. * The per court resident requirement does not apply; however, must have minimum 25% resident participation for practices and strive for approximately 50% match participation on average thru season.
6. Practices times are to be set each season at 6 to 8pm or 8 to 10pm Monday thru Thursday nights.
7. Maximum of 3 courts reserved for practices and matches. A forth court cannot be reserved in advance; however can be used for matches to adjust for weather, etc. as determined by the captain.
8. Match day reservations do not have a time limit and take precedent over all other reservations that day.
9. Upper courts cannot be used for team practices Friday 5pm through Sunday night or on holidays.
10. Lower courts can be reserved no more than five days in advance for occasional team practices.

III. COMMENTS/CONSIDERATIONS

1. Given the size of our neighborhood it is difficult to establish and maintain teams without some inclusion of non-residents. The primary goal of these regulations is to ensure that residents, whether on a team or not, have consistent highly available access to their amenities while also creating an opportunity for competitive and social tennis. Participation on teams by non-residents is acceptable so long as it does have a significant negative impact on resident access to courts, especially during prime times when residents are most likely to have time to play.
2. Before adding new players, teams should first try to recruit residents that are reasonably close to the playing level of the team, and only then are encouraged to recruit family and friends or neighbors in the park bridge and surrounding neighborhoods. Recruiting players outside of this group and area simply for a competitive advantage is highly discouraged and only acceptable if there are no other options to field a team. Former residents and long-term members are allowed, so long as teams strive in good faith to maintain the desired resident participation level of 50%.