In light of the COVID-19 pandemic with University sessions and club events being cancelled, the University of Plymouth Tennis Club (UPTC) wanted to make sure that club members still felt connected and to keep morale high during a time that could be quite challenging mentally for some individuals. These Zoom socials were their way of addressing this, and it has proven to be a massive success. UPTC as a club have been advocates for mental health and always strive to reach out to all of our members to ensure their wellbeing is at the forefront.
"The weekly tennis quiz is a perfect opportunity to keep in touch with even some of the friends from years gone by, as well as being a welcoming event for new members"
– Ollie Street, LTA Ambassador
"I look forward to the tennis quiz each week! It's a great way of improving mental health as well as a welcome break from my studies!"
– Janki Shah, Equipment and Safety Sec
UPTC have been hosting a weekly quiz since the start of lockdown, commencing in April. Each week, one member of UPTC writes a quiz and members tune in to battle it out in a battle of wits. Overall, between 15-20 members would tune in each week to participate and there is a large sense of community spirit and family associated with the socials. This quiz has occurred weekly for an impressive 14 weeks during the period of lockdown and you can check out the results on UPTC's Instagram page.
The club found that a weekly quiz was the perfect opportunity to stay social and keep in touch with many members who are dotted around the UK (and even Europe).
"At UPTC, community is important and having a shared sense of friendship is not only one of our LTA goals this year, but an important selling point of the club as a whole. It has also given us a perfect opportunity to introduce the new committee members for the new year as well as say a fond farewell to older members who will no longer be returning in the new year. Many members from past years as well as new members for the upcoming year get together on these Zoom quizzes to keep in touch. UPTC is a family first and tennis club second."
– Janki Shah, Equipment and Safety Sec
"As the new chairman for this year, it was really important that we had face to face contact with as many members as possible to help improve the transition from the old committee to the new one. The weekly socials gave us the perfect opportunity."
– Callum Scott, Chairman
"Being a social sec next year this was a perfect time to practice what it is like to organise a large group of people. I'm really grateful that all of UPTC have been enjoying the quizzes so far!"
- Samruddhi Kangutkar, Social Sec