Tennis
It’s called Tennis Club de Genève Champel and the address is 41 Route Vessy. The best way to get there is taking the 25-Thônex-Vallard to the bus stop Rieu, and then the 21-Cressy to the stop Bout-du-Monde. From there the club is a 15 minute walk.
You need a membership to play at the club and the prices are as follows (these are all student prices):
Licence (necessary yearly fee for all members) : 100 chf
Winter Membership (October 10 – April 12) : 280 chf
Summer Membership (April 11 – October 2) : 180 chf
You can choose to just pay for the summer membership if you wish for example, if you want to play from April on. In the winter time, you get unlimited access to the indoor courts but just on weekends. In the summer period, you get unlimited access to the indoor and outdoor courts whenever you want and as much as you want. If you want to invite a guest, they have to pay an additional fee (something like 20chf). To pay for the membership, you have to go to the post office and pay with cash using the money slips they’ll provide you with.
Depending on your past experience, the club also has Interclub teams. This is for players with past competitive experience at a high level who wish to represent the team at Interclub competitions all around Switzerland. The matches will typically last a full day and the competitions are most weekends in the month of May and maybe one weekend in June. The team has organized weekly practices and it is an amazing experience. You get to meet locals, travel around to away matches in different parts of Switzerland, and compete for a club in a foreign country! There is no additional charge to play Interclub, as everything is covered by the club. At the end of the matches, the players are treated to a really nice meal provided by the host team’s restaurant and it’s usually delicious traditional Swiss food.
If you wish to get in contact with the club, you can contact them at:
champel@tc-geneve.ch +41(0)22.784.25.66
There are also tennis clubs closer to the Muzy residence, for example Tennis Club de Genève Eaux-Vives, but they may cost more and I don’t know much about them. I know that for example, TC Eaux-Vives costs:
Licence: 5000 chf
Winter: 700 chf
Summer: 520 chf
So..you decide. I think the deal at TC Champel is probably one of the best deals around Geneva for a tennis club. You can also get a membership at Unige for 60 chf for the semester starting at the beginning of April, but those courts are only outdoors and they’re not as good. However, for someone who’s just looking to play for fun, that’s definitely a great option.
There are other clubs in Geneva, but I don’t know too much about them. Here are a few links:
Drizia-Miremont : https://www.tcdrizia.ch/
TC Lancy : http://www.lancytennisclub.ch/
A little side note: for those who are big fans of tennis (and not necessarily tennis players), there is a professional men’s tournament at the TC Genève Eaux-Vives called the ATP Geneva Open every spring in the month of May. If you apply to volunteer at the tournament, they’ll provide you with passes for the duration of the tournament, and it’s a great way to again meet some locals and see some of the best players in the world. Usually there will be a few players from the top 10 and a ton from the top 100. If that sounds like something you may enjoy, definitely check it out.
Hopefully this helps any incoming students who have an interest in tennis. I’ve definitely really enjoyed the experience.
Andjela Stojkovic – Wellesley College (Spring 2016)