Covid-19 has impacted nearly every aspect of our lives this year, including sport. The University of East London’s Men’s and Women’s Tennis team’s new seasons would normally be well under way by now. Unfortunately, they’re not.
Back in March the governing body for university sport, BUCS (British Universities and Colleges Sport) announced that the 2019/20 seasons for every sport must end with immediate affect due to the virus.
Despite not being able to complete last season, the results were positive for East London Sport’s tennis sides. 
The Men’s 1st and Women’s 1st teams both gained promotion to the National Tier. This means both are now in the highest league and ranked within the top six teams nationally.
In addition, the Men’s 2nd Team gained promotion to Division 1 after winning their league and so did the Women’s 2nd Team.
Team manager, Richard Buscombe, speaking to his players at the time said the outcome was, “achieved through a big group effort and we are a group that works hard for each other. I’m proud of you all”.
Over the summer, BUCS announced that due to coronavirus no competitive matches would take place before Christmas.
As a result, there would be no relegation for the 2020/21 season as it will be shorter. Despite the disappointment, there was a positive for East London Sport that the teams who worked hard for promotion last year will consolidate their position for at least another season.
Friendly Matches
Due to the prospect of no competitive games until 2021, Buscombe and coach Andrew Foster organised friendly matches with other universities.
As the number of cases dropped over the summer in the UK, there was hope for normality to resume soon and these friendly matches could take place.
However, since September coronavirus cases have risen once again. Regional lockdowns were in place and there was a limit on how many people can meet at the same time. This led to match postponements and a limit on numbers at training sessions.
Now, from Thursday 5th November a national lockdown will be used for at least a month to try to reduce the spread of the virus. Therefore, this is going to impact the team negatively with now all training and matches postponed. This lockdown could also be a threat for the resumption of competitive university tennis in January.
The team have been affected by the coronavirus pandemic not just in the UK, but also across the whole of Europe. Some players that live abroad in their home countries over the summer have decided not to return to the UK until 2021.
Similarly, some of the team’s international students who have returned had to quarantine on their arrival back in London. Therefore, the start of their training was delayed and they will now be in lockdown again.
Back on the 21st October, a friendly match had been organised with the University of Nottingham. This has had to be postponed due to restrictions in the area. Likewise, matches versus Imperial College London on 28th October also had to be cancelled.
Men’s 1st team player, James Markiewicz, described the situation as “a shame.” Currently, no other friendly matches with other universities have been arranged and the chance of none being played before 2021 is a strong possibility.
Some team members have managed to get competitive tennis in though, the qualifying stage for the BUCS Individual did take place. This is when players still represent their universities but the format of team tennis is not used. The qualifying started last weekend with spectators not allowed at the venue, even including coaches and a reduced draw size. In a statement written to players from coach Andrew Foster, “due to Covid-19 we can only enter nine players. Apologies I’m not putting everyone’s name down”.
Simeon Daniel Interview
Men’s 2nd team player, Simeon Daniel, who was not one of the nine chosen players said, “I felt quite annoyed about not being able to play and not being selected. I feel like it
could have helped my tennis. I could’ve improved if I played the matches and it is a shame about the amount of players that can’t play given the situation. I’m annoyed but it is what it is.”
Away from tennis, he is happier with the circumstances with studying now through mainly online classes.
Regarding his education he said, “Online lectures are alright. (Microsoft) Teams is useful but it’s obviously not the same as coming in, in real life. I don’t mind if it’s online or in a lecture hall, I learn pretty well either way”.
We wish all the team well and hope that competitive tennis can get back under way soon.
