In the Women's Doubles category, Leanne James and Christine Shamji came out ahead of Meg Killeen and Jacquie Ross during the Southampton Tennis Club's Cup Week, August 23 to 29. Photo by David Bradshaw

The Southampton Tennis Club (STC) usually wraps up their season with their club championship, Cups Day. In a submission to Saugeen Shores Hub, it’s a month-long round robin where members play in over 40 different categories. The championship match for each category is played on a single day at the club’s primary location on Lake Street.

The finals and awards presentation usually attract a crowd of several hundred people but due to COVID-19, the club decided this simply wasn’t manageable nor responsible this year.

However, when the province entered Stage 3 of the provincial reopening in July, the rules allowed for the sharing of tennis balls as well as larger group activities, making it possible to create a pandemic-friendly version of the tournament. As a result, Cups Day evolved into Cups Week.

Instead of the finals being played in one day at one facility, they were spread over seven days and the club's three facilities. From August 23 to 29, more than half of the club’s 40 plus tennis categories were played. Rather than convening their annual awards celebration, trophies were presented to the participants immediately following each match.

Spreading out the final matches across all of the club's locations meant social distancing could be better maintained. A group of volunteers were also on hand distributing face masks to attendees.

"The STC would like to thank the players for putting on a great show, the collective Cups team for adapting the tournament to our current environment in record time, and the spectators who donned their masks to keep other members safe," read the release.

For full results, visit southamptontennisclub.ca/news-events/cups-day.

The Men's Doubles saw Matt Buckley and Robin Worling defeat Campbell and Matt MacKinnon. Photo by David Bradshaw

The Mother Daughter match up saw Leanne James and Marley MacKinnon take first place with Andrea and Lauren Pineau runners up. Photo by David Bradshaw

Stage 3 of the province's reopening gave the Southampton Tennis Club the opportunity to reimagine their annual Cup Day season wrap up, turning it into Cup Week which allowed for social distancing and mask requirements to be better maintained. Photo by David Bradshaw