On May 18, 2020, Mayor Rosenthal issued a Supplemental Order regarding racket sports pursuant to her March 16, 2020, Declaration of Emergency. The Order modifies Mayor Rosenthal’s April 2 Order, which prohibited the conduct of any sport or recreational activity using shared equipment, and group exercise with persons who are not member of the same household on public property.

Specifically, the Order permits the play of tennis, pickleball and paddle tennis in public and private courts provided that:

• it is played in strict compliance with the U.S. Tennis Association Guidelines;
• no doubles play allowed (singles competition only); and,
• no play may occur simultaneously on an adjacent court and the nets are removed from adjacent courts

Prior to issuance of the Order, Mayor Rosenthal and staff reviewed these requirements in detail with the Deerfield Park District, Deerfield High School, Briarwood County Club and Tennaqua, all of which are expected to open for racket sports shortly. The U.S. Tennis Association Guidelines are available here and the Supplemental Order is available here.

The Deerfield Park District and Deerfield High School have coordinated to make the most courts possible available for public use under these requirements. These courts include 6 at the High School, one court at Briarwood Park, one court at Deerspring Park and one turf court at Mitchell Park. A hard surface court at Mitchell Park will open within the next week once construction is complete.

Court use requirements include singles play only, requiring on-line reservations (free of charge) and following instructions on partners shared tennis ball use. More information on the guidelines and requirements and how to reserve courts can be found at www.deerfieldparks.org/tennis. Play will start May 21.