Frequently Asked Questions

It is very simple to join.
Complete the membership join up and direct debit form online.

Players of all abilities are welcome to join. The Club actively encourages anyone to come along and have a go to promote beginners, non-playing family members and anyone returning to the game after a break.

New players are welcome to come and play as a visitor, either with a member (up to a 6 occasions), on Saturday afternoons (club social play) or to book in to one of the coaching sessions run by the coaching team. Contact coaching@southdownsportsclub.co.uk for further information.

YES. You can join the club anytime and the membership fee will be reduced pro-rata, you will be charged for the remaining period of the membership.

12 months membership at Southdown Sports Club runs from the 1^st September.

Typically, a membership package is for a full 12 month period. Signing up will give you access to all club membership benefits for one year.

As an unincorporated association, we are governed by a constitution and club rules which also incorporate the Disciplinary Code and rules of the LTA.

Your membership gives you free use of the car park with the relevant pass on view. You will get this pass when you become a member of the Club. Club members and visitors are reminded to ensure that they give due consideration to our neighbours and pedestrians.

There’s a lounge seating area, tables and a café/bar. We also have a big-screen TV to entertain our members or show live tennis. Changing rooms, toilets and showers are also available. Please see the opening times for the café on the café pages.

The clubhouse is open Mondays to Thursdays from 8am to 10pm, Fridays 8am – 9pm, Saturdays 8am to 8pm and Sundays 9am to 7pm.

Floodlights can stay on until club closing times.

No, only members can book the courts, but you can try out the facilities before joining the club as a guest of a member. Alternatively, you can also play as a guest in our social mix-around session or participate in the coaching programme.

You can play as much as you would like to throughout the week, subject to courts being available. We are very fortunate to have 16 courts and rarely have problems with members not being able to book and play.

We use an online booking system called eBooking. Every member is given access to this and you can book and manage your bookings yourself.

You can book up to 2 weeks in advance and there is no limit on the number of sessions.

Our Tennis Coaching Team provide professional tennis coaching for all ages and abilities. There are various opportunities to receive tennis coaching, in both groups or on a one to one basis for juniors and adults. Please see the coaching information for details on the coaching sessions.

YES, juniors can sign up to the weekly coaching programme, which is for a termly block of squads, at any time, if there are spaces and only pay pro-rata for the number of remaining weeks. Juniors can also attend our Saturday morning junior coaching programme where you still book online but pay for just the weeks you wish to come. Adults can do the same where they just book on to the sessions per week, at any time, for the weeks that they wish to attend.

The coaching programme runs during the school term times only with camps and other tennis events being held during school holiday weeks.

Absolutely. You don’t need experience or equipment to join. Your child will learn all the skills in a friendly, fun environment and we can always provide your child with a spare racket.

NO, our adult coaching squads are drop in sessions where you book online each week and not termly courses. You don’t need to commit to every session every week. Sessions run weekly during term time.

Don’t worry, get in touch with any of the Coaching Team and they will advise you which class would be the best for you to join based on your current ability.

Please visit our Junior Coaching section, where you will find comprehensive information about the different levels of coaching available for juniors at Southdown Sports Club.

No, unfortunately we don’t.

Contact any of the coaches direct or our head coach Keith Pullin via our Contact page.

In the event of bad weather, the coaching will take shelter in the clubhouse. If it is light drizzle or showers, we will stay outdoors so long as it is safe. Therefore, please dress suitably.

The coach running the session will make the decision to cancel and will notify all players involved. Please contact the coach direct or the reception if you have not heard anything or need any further information.

For the junior weekly coaching blocks, there will be ‘make up’ sessions on the same day at the end of the term or half term or beginning of the next one. If you are unable to make the date, I am afraid that you will lose that session. It is not possible to add players onto other groups as this will alter the player/coach ratio. For all junior and adult weekly drop-in coaching sessions, you can either have a refund or roll over the credit for a following week that you can do. All individual coaching is simply rescheduled for another time direct with your coach.

Yes, the coaching team offer private coaching for both adults and juniors. Please see the Coaching Team page for further details.

If you cancel a squad session WITHOUT at least 24 hours for the coach to fill the space, you will be expected to pay for it. If the coach cancels the session due to inclement weather, there is no charge. If the coach is prepared to run the session as he or she considers the weather conditions to be safe, the squad session will happen. Under these circumstances, if the player chooses not to play, they must pay for the session.

All club members are entitled to play in fixture matches in the Sussex LTA Leagues, the internal club singles’ league and the annual club tournament. We currently have 4 ladies and 5 men’s teams. There are different formats in different leagues ranging from 2 to 6 sets per couple.

Yes, although competition is fierce! We play in a variety of local leagues, including women’s doubles, men’s doubles and mixed. It’s a meritocracy, so if you’re good enough you’ll play. Final squad selections are down to the team captains. If you would like to play in one of the teams please contact the appropriate team captain

Yes, we run internal box leagues for both singles and doubles.

Yes, we would welcome your guests to enjoy the facilities at the club.
Who knows they may like what they see and also wish to join us!
All members should sign their visitor into the online booking system and pay the £7.00 fee per guest (or £5.00 for juniors). This fee should be paid at reception. If the visitor subsequently joins, the amount paid in visitor’s fees will be deducted from their subscription.

Each year the club receives an allocation of Wimbledon tickets based on the number of club members who have signed up as a British Tennis Member through the LTA (free) and have opted in for Wimbledon tickets on the LTA website. From 2021 the LTA will manage the ballot for Wimbledon tickets for tennis club members. If you have not signed up to BTM you can do this online by visiting the following link: www2.lta.org.uk/advantage