Burr Ridge Club Member Tests Positive

BURR RIDGE, IL — A second sports club in the area has learned about a junior tennis player testing positive for the coronavirus. In a mass email Thursday, an official from the Five Seasons Family Sports Club in Burr Ridge apologized she "waited so long for communication outside of our director level."

Two days earlier, the Salt Creek Club in Hinsdale emailed its membership that a junior tennis player who later tested positive was on the club premises in the high performance tennis group last Thursday. The club learned the news about the positive test Monday evening and informed its membership mid-afternoon Tuesday.

On Sunday, Five Seasons found out a junior member tested positive for the virus. The person only participated in outdoor tennis and did not have access to the pool area, according to a mass email to members by Heather Harris, the club's chief operating officer.

Upon finding out, the club held a conference call among its directors to exchange facts and trigger its already-established guidelines to ensure an appropriate response, Harris said.

That same evening, the club's junior director texted the junior group about the news and canceled junior tennis events until further notice. "We needed info in the right hands fast," Harris said.

On Monday morning, the club's four tennis pros were tested. Two of them were still awaiting results Friday, while the other two came back negative, Harris said.

"Our plan included communication to the larger tennis community as soon as we received test results back," Harris said. "However, it was recently brought to my attention that perhaps we waited too long for communication outside of our director level and I want to personally apologize for that."

Harris told Patch that the club officer, who led Five Seasons for 18 years, recently left, so she is picking up leadership responsibilities.

In a later email, Harris said the word "apologize" was taken out of context and that the story's headline was misleading. She said the word "explain" should have been used instead.

"Five Seasons at Burr Ridge communicated immediately with the families and staff involved in registration and our advanced tennis program," Harris said. "Since there were a very limited number of participants and tennis is played outdoors, we believed the situation was managed appropriately. However, if even one member has a concern, it is our job to address it. In hindsight, we apologize for not addressing concerns of our general membership sooner."

In a phone interview, Andrea Dollens, a parent of a junior elite tennis player, said the club's handling of the situation has been appropriate. She said the club wanted to get a clear understanding of the situation before sending out a mass email.

"They notified everybody who had any kind of contact with (the player) first," Dollens said. "I believe they did the right thing."

Ria Davidson, a spokeswoman for the Five Seasons chain, said the organization is proud how the Burr Ridge club has handled the situation.

"They're amazing in how much they care. People there have been with the organization for a long time," Davidson said. "We're going above and beyond to make our families feel safe."

In her mass email, Harris said the unfortunate reality was that the club could not guarantee the virus would not enter its property again.

"In fact, emails like this could be the new normal. Even though we have put strict protocols into place, we are constantly monitoring those policies and procedures as well as adding updates as cases rise and mandates change," Harris said.

The clubs have not mentioned the coronavirus news on their websites or Twitter feeds.