Southampton Town Board to Partner With Bridgehampton Tennis Club for Lifeguard Training

The Southampton Town Board placed a resolution on its March 24 agenda to authorize Town Supervisor Maria Z. Moore to execute a license agreement with the Bridgehampton Tennis & Surf Club, formally connecting one of the South Fork's best-known private tennis properties to the town's spring lifeguard training program.

The agenda item, titled "Authorize the Supervisor to Execute a License Agreement with Bridgehampton Tennis & Surf Club for 2026 Spring Lifeguard Training," appeared in the Board's official meeting packets for the Regular Meeting that convened March 24. The proposed agreement would formalize BTSC's role as a training site for lifeguard certification ahead of the summer season, a logistical step that carries real consequences for how the club's facilities are used during the spring shoulder months.

For members and regulars at BTSC, arrangements of this kind touch on a practical tension in the club calendar: shared-use agreements typically define permitted hours and dates of access, insurance and indemnification language, liability terms, and any compensation or in-kind obligations between the town and the host facility. Those terms shape how much waterfront and court-adjacent access gets carved out for training sessions alongside private recreational use.

Southampton has long depended on controlled aquatic environments to run effective lifeguard certification programs, and BTSC's oceanfront setting in Bridgehampton offers the kind of managed space that instructor-led open-water testing requires. Training at an established private facility, rather than an open municipal beach, gives certification programs a more structured and predictable environment.

The scheduling stakes are not trivial. Lifeguard training seasons on the East End run from roughly late March through May, and towns that miss that window risk entering summer understaffed. A formal license agreement between the Town and BTSC clears a documented pathway for training to proceed on a defined schedule, with the paperwork in place to satisfy insurance and liability requirements on both sides.

What the March 24 agenda materials do not detail are the specific operational terms: the allocated training dates and hours, insurance minimums, and whether the club receives any direct compensation or reciprocal consideration from the Town. Those specifics would appear in the signed agreement itself, which becomes part of the public record once filed with the Town Clerk. Whether this is a new arrangement or a continuation of prior coordinating agreements between Southampton and BTSC is not addressed in the current agenda materials. The Board's minutes from March 24 and the Town Clerk's office hold the definitive record of the final vote and the agreement's full terms.