Rules and Regulations
Ocean Grove Tennis Center Clay Court Rules
As of May 1, 2025

 

Definitions:

Chelsea

The name of the system used to assign courts. The system assigns 1 point for a Prime Time play, .5 points for late morning time and late afternoon, and 0 points for all other plays.

Weekday plays at 7am and 9am; Friday afternoons at 4pm. Sunday at 12noon

Prime Time

* Members can only play in 3 prime time sessions per week during weekdays. Sunday does not count toward the 3 plays per week, but is considered Prime time for the use of guests.

* There will be no limit on the total number of weekly plays per member per week, outside of the 3 prime time session limitations and once daily.

Request

Request a court for a specific day/time with all player names. A Request can be made 4 – 7 days in advance

Booking

The system assigns a court 2 days prior to the play day, or a member Books an open court on the day of play as well as 1 – 2 days in advance.

When a court is open and not being used, any member can book the court last minute and play.  Members should book the court in Chelsea so other members know the court is no longer open.  Guest should be registered and fees should always be paid.

  


  1. A) Reserving a Court

The Ocean Grove Tennis Club (OGTC) uses the Chelsea system to request and make bookings, and all Courts can only be reserved in two-hour increments. All courts require reservations on the online Chelsea system prior to use. To use the Chelsea System all OGTC members will receive a Member # that they can use to Request or Book a court.

  • The person who Requests or Books the court is referred to as the “Captain” and “Player 1” in Chelsea. The Captain is responsible to see that each active member’s # is listed on the Request or Booking.

  • The Captain is responsible for entering the name of any guest who will be playing on the court.

  • The Captain is responsible to ‘check in' with the Court Attendant and reconcile the names in the Chelsea system with the actual players who show up to play.

  • A member can Request a court up to 7 days in advance. The Chelsea algorithm will assign a court and automatically send out a confirmation email 2 days prior to the play date.

  • Each time a member plays the Chelsea system assigns that member 1 point, .5 or 0 point depending on the day and time the member played.  The Chelsea system also tracks and counts the number of plays a member has over a two week period. The system is “refreshed” daily so that it will always track the previous 14 days.  

  • When there are numerous Requests for a court on a specific day/time, Chelsea assigns the court to the group that has the lowest average number of points.

  • If Guests are playing they will receive the same number of points as the Captain.

  • Members can request to play 2 times in one day, but can only play once that day during Prime time. The 2nd booking can only be made with permission from a manager on the day of play, or the day before. 

  • Other booking rules are:

    • Singles - you must use two member’s names when Requesting or Booking before 11 am. After 11 am you may use a members’ name and the guest’s full name to make a request or booking.

    • Doubles - you should put in all four members' names.  No guests are allowed to play on weekdays before 11am, unless a special request is granted by the manager.. After 11am two members can add two guests, but the guest's full names must be used. (See ‘Guest Policy’ below)

    • A member cannot Request or Book a court with one member and 3 guests, but can play as a last minute booking. Exceptions may be made in advance through the Court Manager.

  • Doubles will always take precedence over singles.

  1. B) Guest Policy

When Requesting or Booking a court with a guest/guests, the member must write in the guest’s full name (i.e., John Smith). You cannot just write in “guest” or “Joe Jones’s guest”.

  1. No guests are allowed to play during Prime Time. Prime Time is weekday mornings at 7am and 9am, Friday afternoons at 4pm, and Sunday at 12noon.   Exceptions can only be requested through the manager in advance 

  2. At no time can one member Request a court or Book a court with 3 guests.

  3. The Guest Fee will be $20 in 2025. Guest fees must be paid in advance. Fees can be paid by credit card, or to an attendant (if on duty) or placed in the “Guest Box” slot on the shed door prior to going on the court.

  4. Playing with guests:

    a)  Playing with a guest 

A member can have a total of 6 guest plays for the season. This can be 1 guest 6 times over the season; or 2 guests 3 times over the season;  or 3 guests 2 times over the season; or 6 guests 1 time each over the season.

No guest can play more than 6 times as a guest over the course of a season, regardless of which member invites them.

C) Cancellations and No Shows

Your court may be released to other players if you have not arrived within 15 minutes past your scheduled court time.

Members must CANCEL reservations in a timely manner to allow others to have access to the courts. “No Shows” will result in 2 penalty points added to each player in the reservation system and may reduce your chances of securing future court reservations.

If the person booking the court fails to cancel the court, the other players listed on that court have a responsibility to cancel the court. Excessive “No Shows” may result in additional penalties.



D) Teaching and Transactions

  • No outside teaching lessons are allowed on the courts.  Teaching, hitting lessons and Youth coaching can only be conducted by authorized personnel of OGTC.

  • No commercial transactions, exchange of money or tips can take place on the courts, with the exception of teaching, hitting lessons and Youth coaching conducted by authorized employees of OGTC.

  • OGTC management may hold courts for rentals, lessons and clinics.   There are certain timeframes that will be unavailable due to practices, clinics and matches.

  1. E) Gaming the System, Compliance and Consequences

All players must abide by the rules. When signing up for OGTC membership all players will sign a document stating that they agree with the following:

“All players on the Ocean Grove courts do so at the sole discretion of The Ocean Grove Camp Meeting Association (OGCMA) which reserves the right to remove any player, or court, from use for whatever reason or period of time it deems appropriate.”

It’s recognized that members can, and do, make legitimate, unintentional mistakes or rules violations. However, a member may receive a penalty or suspension from the club for such things as flagrant, intentional and/or consistent patterns of rules violations, especially those that are used to “game the system”. 

Some examples of ‘gaming the system’ are:

  • Requesting a court with guests to ensure you get the court and then after getting the court, at the last minute adding members

  • Requesting a court by using the names of low point members without that member’s knowledge or permission. This could lead to immediate suspension.

  • Requesting or Booking a doubles court with low point members and arriving/playing with players with higher points and not making timely changes in the Chelsea system

  • Playing with guests without paying the fee in advance

  • Any activity that hides the fact that a member played with a guest, and/or that the member played and the member(s) did not making timely changes in the Chelsea system

Penalties for violations of Chelsea would be as follows:

  • 1st Offense: A written warning which explains the problem and how to ‘fix it’ and make a valid Request or Booking

  • 2nd Offense: A two (2) week ban from using the OGCMA courts

  • 3rd Offense: Permanent ban from using the OGCMA courts

F) Member rules and responsibilities

  • Abide by the OGTC rules and treat others with respect.

  • No Alcohol allowed on the courts or the tented social area

  • Abide by Managements authority to close courts for any reason, and follow any directives from the manager or court attendants. 

  • Follow the listed court hours, including late Sunday opening (12noon)

  • Cancel or update Requests and/or Bookings in a timely manner

  • Sweep and line the courts when no attendants are on duty

Management reserves the right to close the courts (or any one court) for any reason. Once the courts are closed members are expected to vacate the courts in a timely manner.  When courts have been closed, no one should use the courts until they are announced as open again. Management may suspend member’s membership for one or more weeks for non-compliance with rules and regulations. 

Any questions should be directed to the Court Manager via phone, text or email.

If you have any other questions, they may be answered in our FAQ’s document. Link to FAQ’s click here