Club Ambassador Success Stories

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Tennis Victoria

Club Ambassador Success Stories 2008

www.tennis.com.au/vic


This booklet demonstrates the fantastic achieve­ ments of Club Ambassadors in 2008. The stories consider categories such as increasing membership, improving facilities and getting people from different backgrounds involved in the sport – all of which are vital to the development of tennis clubs. Success stories have stemmed from the tireless efforts of Club Ambassadors, club volunteers and their consistent contact with Tennis Victoria.

What is a Club Ambassador? Club Ambassadors provide information to all members of the club, including the latest news, offers and activities going on in the tennis industry. To ensure your club receives the latest information, Tennis Victoria encourages each affiliated body to register a Cub Ambassador.

Who can become a Club Ambassador? Anyone at your club can become a Club Ambassador. All you need is a current email address and a commitment to communicate information from Tennis Victoria to your club members and committee.

How can I become a Club Ambassador? To become a Club Ambassador, e-mail your name and club to tvreception@tennisvic.com.au

Want more information? More information can be found on the Tennis Victoria website www.tennis.com.au/vic under the Clubs section. Alternatively please call 8420-8420 or email tvreception@tennisvic.com.au

Front cover photography: Andrew Gyopar

Tennis Victoria Club Ambassadors are proudly supported by:


contents

Indigenous Tennis Program – Bairnsdale Tennis Club

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A New Era – Brooklyn Tennis Club

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Water for tennis – Bulleen Tennis Cub

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Lighting the way – Burden Park Tennis Club

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Changes a plenty – Clarinda Tennis Club

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Multicultural Tennis Program – Dandenong Tennis Club

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Working hand in hand – East Malvern Tennis Club

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Seniors’ Social Tennis Program – Essendon Tennis Club

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Strength in numbers – Fountain Gate Tennis Club

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A bright future – Hurlingham Park Tennis Club

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Seniors’ Social Tennis Program a big hit – Knox City Tennis Club

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Junior Committee a success – Laverton Park Tennis Club

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Serving Gen X and Gen Y – Melbourne University Tennis Club

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Multicultural Program – Our Lady’s Sunshine Tennis Club

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A year of great achievements – St Christopher’s Tennis Club

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Tennis the winner – Swifts Creek Tennis Club

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Ace time for mums – Warrandyte Tennis Club

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Tankworld-Rebound Ace Country Week –

Victorian Country Tennis Association

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indigenous tennis program Bairnsdale Tennis Club The Bairnsdale Tennis Club was interested in getting an Indigenous Tennis Program off the ground. Our starting point was to arrange a meeting between Tennis Victoria, the Sport Development Officer for Indigenous Sport and Recreation Program, Gippsport Program Coordinator and the Family Innovations/Support Worker GEGAC in November 2007 to discuss how this was going to happen.

to deliver this program as she is a fully qualified Club Professional coach and has completed the course with Tennis Victoria.

It was decided to contact two schools in our area and invite them to send their indigenous children (who could bring a friend), to a fun day held at the Bairnsdale Tennis Club with the help of our coach.

From the five week coaching program, Amanda and I have selected a boy and girl who will receive a term’s coaching, tennis racket, and a membership to the Bairnsdale Tennis Club, starting in February 2009. I hope both pupils continue to play and represent our club in local tennis competitions.

The two schools, 754 Primary School and West Bairnsdale Primary School, were invited to attend the fun day which was held in March 2008 for West Bairnsdale Primary School and April 2008 for 754 Primary School. We held a five week program targeted at children aged eight years and over for each school with one hour sessions coordinated by our coach and myself. I have also held an Orientation to Coaching class (in July 2008) hoping to get parents and older children (16 years and over), from the indigenous community to understand how they can pass on their tennis skills and experience to the younger children. This was open to anyone who wanted to attend and I had one indigenous parent and one 16 year old indigenous boy, as well as four others attend. This took about four hours to run. Thankfully our coach, Amanda Dundas, was able

Photo courtesy of the Bairnsdale Advertiser.

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A Cultural Awareness Inclusion Training program was held at the Bairnsdale Tennis Club for all sporting clubs in our area. It was a very informative night and was presented by Rob Hyatt. Nine people attended and I think we all got a lot from the presentation.

Julie Glynn


a new era Brooklyn Tennis Club The drought in 2007, and the resulting Stage 3 water restrictions, was tragic for the Victorian tennis community, including the Brooklyn Tennis Club (BTC). With an almost unplayable en-tout-cas surface, the club was fighting a losing battle. At one point in March 2007, the members were considering closing down: “Who gets the refrigerator? Who gets the oven? Who gets the tools in the storeroom? Who gets the bulletin board and flags?” A young member even suggested that we place an epitaph on the site that says BROOKLYN TENNIS CLUB 1967-2007: 30 YEARS OF TENNIS MEMORIES. Thankfully this never happened. The never-say die attitude of some members resonated to all various government and non-government groups like Tennis Victoria who sent its Technical Officer to assess and make a report with possible solutions to the situation. This report was sent to Hobsons Bay City Council and the process of saving BTC began to take shape. The only way to save the courts was through State Government and Council funding. After the tennis committee presented its case to the Council it was able to get the help it needed from the Council and the State Government. In March of 2008 construction started exactly one year after we were thinking of closing down.

The four en-tout-cas courts have now been resurfaced to hard courts. With the help of Hobsons Bay City Council and the State Government’s funding via the Drought Relief Program, BTC will be here to stay for a long time. It will continue to be part of the community, bringing together families and individuals from different backgrounds through tennis for years to come. After five months of construction, the courts were ready and the club was able to move forward. We had a re-opening day celebration on October 31 2008, which was the club’s way of thanking various groups (government and non-government) and individuals for their support in the most critical period in BTC’s history (since it began in 1967). The club has always thrived with various activities and members coming from different suburbs, even as far as Bacchus Marsh. It is a success story with many heroes. Ronaldo San Andres

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water for tennis Bulleen Tennis Cub Bulleen Tennis Club has recently installed a sophisticated rainwater collection and storage system to assist in the regular watering of the clubs ten red porous courts to maintain safe playing surfaces and ensure the ongoing viability of the club. With the major aim of the project being to keep the red porous courts, the first stage involved the installation of four water tanks, with a total capacity of 91,000 litres, as well as a 36-metre long pipeline and cyclonic filter that connects the roof of the clubrooms to the tanks. The second stage of the project was to connect a pump and reticulation system with the taps located in the centre of each pair of courts. This enables the watering hoses to be connected to either tank or mains water. A water meter has also been connected to the pump line to measure the quantity of tank water used. Having gained extra funding from club resources, the club then added another two tanks, increasing the storage capacity to 136,000 litres. An ‘in ground’ concrete pit with a capacity to hold 1,000 litres has been positioned to collect storm water from one pair of courts. The pit has an in-built submersible pump that allows this water to be transferred into the storage tanks.

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The majority of the funding for this project came from a Commonwealth Government Water Grant of $49,575, which was obtained in December 2007. The club’s own resources provided a further $15,000. The expanded system has been fully commissioned and sufficient water is being collected to water all courts throughout the coming months. It is anticipated that the project has the potential to save 490,000 litres of water in one year. Ken Elliott


lighting the way Burden Park Tennis Club With a spike in interest in local tennis generating an increase in membership numbers at our club, it was becoming increasingly difficult to satisfy members’ needs to gain access to one of our courts. An increase in coaching demand, the number of junior teams playing competition, social tennis activity (not to mention mid-week men’s and ladies’ tennis) and Saturday’s senior competition meant the committee had to find a way to optimise court availability to give members better options in terms of access time. The installation of court lighting was the only answer. The financial commitment of an estimated $100,000 was not one the club could meet from its own resources. We approached Tennis Victoria to obtain their advice and assistance in terms of what grants and funding might be available. After some discussion, Tennis Victoria made us aware of the Victorian Government’s ‘Community Facility Funding Program 2007/2008’ (Minor Facilities Funding) through Sport and Recreation Victoria and suggested that our capital works project may be met by this program. Access to this funding was made by applying to our local Council, the City of Greater Dandenong. With relevant documentation in hand we set about meticulously preparing our submission. Our proposal was for the Council to fund $50,000, with Sport and Recreation Victoria to finance the $50,000 balance.

Of the many applications submitted to Council, only three were selected for further submission to Sport and Recreation Victoria for approval. We were summoned to a meeting by our local Council for the purpose of justifying the worthiness of our project and its benefit to the community. Once again, we called upon Tennis Victoria for support, who sent a delegate to the meeting, giving our presentation a touch of experience that made it look professional. Council rang us back that week to advise they would be submitting our project to Sport and Recreation Victoria for funding. Three months later we received a letter from Council to advise that the project had been approved by Sport and Recreation Victoria and that work would commence in March 2008. Even better news was that the Council would be sharing the total cost of the project with Sport and Recreation Victoria and that Burden Park Tennis Club would not be required to contribute financially. Our project progressed smoothly and on Sunday 29 June 2008 Cr Yvonne Herring launched the lights in front of a large gathering of members and guests. This was a great combined effort by Tennis Victoria and our club. Gwen Bryant and Brian Cahill

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changes a plenty Clarinda Tennis Club Mark Collins from Tennis Victoria (Technical Services) came to one of our Committee meetings about two years ago, bringing with him many samples of various court surfaces for us to look at, whilst also giving us a very comprehensive presentation on each surface. After this meeting, our Committee then spent many months trying out the different surfaces at other clubs and after much deliberation decided to replace three of our red porous courts with ‘Classic Clay’. Our decision was based on the fact that ‘Classic Clay’ plays like a red porous court, but doesn’t require any watering. The courts were constructed by Alan Stevenson from Australian Synthetic Turf Enterprises (ASTE). His attention to detail and communication with the Committee were excellent. In addition to the courts, we have installed two new 18,600 litre water tanks, to go with the existing 10,000 litre tank. These tanks will help supply water to our toilets and our three remaining red porous courts, thus ensuring we are doing our bit for water conservation. The tank project was made possible by funds obtained from a Federal Government Water Saver Grant. The replacement courts were funded through a Sport and Recreation Victoria Grant, a City of Kingston Small Facilities Grant, and the club’s own funds.

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Tennis Victoria also provided the project management for the installation of lighting to one of our courts, giving us three courts under lights. We are now able to run teams in the Waverley and District night tennis competition, in-house competitions, social night tennis, whilst also keeping our coach Ben Salmon happy. Our Committee has worked tirelessly to improve the facilities at Clarinda Tennis Club and are confident of increasing our membership numbers and night tennis involvement from the improvements that have taken place. We believe we have a great club and our Committee will continue its work to keep improving conditions. No doubt Tennis Victoria will be asked for more help in the future! Garry Hall


multicultural tennis program Dandenong Tennis Club The Dandenong Tennis Club has been involved in Tennis Victoria’s Multicultural Tennis Program since the beginning of 2008. Dandenong is one of the most culturally diverse suburbs in Melbourne and consists of many different cultural groups and new arrival communities. Both the Dandenong Tennis Club and Tennis Victoria’s objectives of making tennis more accessible for these communities are being met with this program. The first community group that we targeted was the large Sudanese population that resides in Dandenong. Many successful partnerships have been formed to make this program a success. VicHealth who fund Tennis Victoria’s Multicultural Tennis Program, Centre for Multicultural Youth (CMY), Sudanese Australian Integrated Learning Program (SAIL), Kids Tennis Foundation and the City of Greater Dandenong have all contributed to the success of the program. Our club coach, Valoja Illangasinghe, has also played an important role in developing the program. He has been the deliverer of clinics and tennis lessons with various multicultural groups. Valoja ran two four-week tennis programs with SAIL, who are a local voluntary organisation providing English tuition to Sudanese children, and he has run tennis programs with many local primary schools in the area funded by the Kids Tennis Foundation.

After we particpated in the training workshop we decided to hold a Multicultural Tennis Day at the club. Many people of all ages and cultural backgrounds enjoyed the festivities, which included fun tennis games and activities run by Valoja. Activities included a fastest serve competition, mini tennis, doubles matches and some coaching. We provided a smorgasbord of food ranging from Halal sausages, chicken, fried rice, a variety of salads, bread and deserts. The Multicultural Tennis Day was an opportunity for the culturally diverse community of Dandenong to experience the positive and fun environment that we as a club have to offer. In 2009 we plan to work with Adult Multicultural Education Service (AMES) which will involve Valoja running an eight week tennis program with 60 students from the Noble Park and Dandenong campus that are aged between 18-25 and have recently migrated from Burma, Afghanistan, Cambodia, Sri Lanka, China, Sudan and India. So far we have been able to provide tennis opportunities to over 500 participants who otherwise might not have access to the sport, with 15 of them having taken up regular coaching lessons with Valoja. Kerri Illangasinghe

We participated in a Cultural Awareness Inclusive Training workshop conducted by CMY which was really beneficial as it made us more aware of the barriers multicultural communities face in accessing sport and provided advice as to what we can do as a club to minimise those barriers.

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working hand in hand East Malvern Tennis Club East Malvern Tennis Club (EMTC) may only have ten courts, but at the end of 2008 it had the largest membership number of all council owned clubs in Victoria. Like all clubs, it has a substantial churn and must continue to offer its members great service and facilities to continue as a vibrant and successful club. Like many clubs, EMTC’s Committee is made up of volunteers who work tirelessly under the strain of limited time and resources dedicated to, amongst other things, the marketing of the club. Therefore, the club relies primarily on the professional coaching branch of the club, Futures Tennis Academy, to take on the role and to act as the club’s ‘marketing arm’. As a result, Futures Tennis Academy coaching programs have been able to flourish with multiple courts assigned to coaching each night. Over the years both parties have found there has been a direct correlation between the success of the coaching program and an increase in membership. Approximately 10-15% of all pupils who receive coaching join the club, which is a great success rate compared to other forms of expensive marketing such as letterbox drops which proudly boast they have a success rate of 3%! Thus EMTC and Futures Tennis Academy have formed a strong, successful alliance based on mutual respect and trust that both parties are working in the best interests of each other. By far, our most productive advertising is our annual Club Open Day which is conducted on the first Sunday after the Australian Open. The club waives the joining fee on the day and advertises in the local school newsletters, distributes posters to small businesses and emails all members asking them to invite new players to the club. Futures Tennis Academy contributes to the Club Open Day by distributing a flyer to thousands of local residents and also notifies its own pupils who are not current members about the day. The Club Open Day offers the opportunity for the entire Committee to present and welcome new players whilst offering free drinks, snacks, a BBQ and of course tennis – the

greatest game on earth! Futures Tennis Academy offers free coaching, games, prizes, a ball machine etc. The last few Club Open Days have been an outstanding success with membership numbers increasing on the day, with a record 130 new players joining the club in 2008! Futures Tennis Academy also leverages off many of the great Tennis Australia/Tennis Victoria programs including: •

Aviva Tennis Hot Shots

Mums’ Tennis Program

Tennis in Schools Program

Hosting an Aviva Ball Kid Talent ID day

Futures Tennis Academy also works on promotion of the club and coaching by developing strong partnerships with local schools and businesses (local schools often hire the club courts for one-off events), making it mandatory for pupils who enroll in their full-time program to join the club, conducting oneoff events to promote new players to the club (we recently held a parent/child tournament) and actively encouraging club membership through our Coaching Rewards Program. Also, our website, newsletters and promotional literature all include details about club membership. A volunteer based club needs a Professional Coaching Academy to assist in marketing and both must coexist if there is to be a successful mutually beneficial relationship. Success is built on a foundation of trust, mutual respect and a genuine desire for each other to succeed. A successful club and a successful coach therefore work hand in hand. Every club and every coaching academy should ask the other “What can we do to help you?” Wes Horkins

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seniors’ social tennis program Essendon Tennis Club The Essendon Tennis Club has been servicing the northern suburban sporting community for over 125 years, contributing teams in both junior and senior competitions. After spending many years building the membership, we can now report a membership base of over 500! The Essendon Tennis Club not only caters for competition players but also has one of Tennis Victoria’s largest Seniors’ Social Tennis Programs on offer, with the members able to participate in up to three sessions per week. The program has 55 members and offers social competition for all playing standards and welcomes any newcomers. Members take their turn to be a ‘court captain’ whose responsibility it is to allocate teams and courts. Eight game sets are played, with each player playing five to eight sets. After each set players swap partners. Each Wednesday players bring a plate of food and play finishes at 11.45am so that everyone can gather and have lunch together. The fitter players generally go back out and play another two or three sets after lunch!

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While the average age of program participants is 72, one member, Gordon Crewther, recently celebrated his 90th birthday with some of his closest friends at the club. He has been playing since he was 10 years old! Everyone who takes part in the Seniors’ Social Tennis Program are friends and there is no discrimination. Everyone plays together irrespective of their level of competence. Taking part in the program is great for our social, physical and mental health. Rex Cave


strength in numbers Fountain Gate Tennis Club In 2005 the Fountain Gate Tennis Club had just two junior teams and was facing collapse. Now, the club proudly has 16 junior teams and is going from strength to strength. Last season the club won four premierships – the most it has won in a single season – and also entered the Tennis Victoria Junior Pennant competition for the first time. As a result of this growth, the club has had to hire outside courts to accommodate the teams! The club is currently investigating ways to expand its facilities and construct new courts and will be asking Tennis Victoria to help us bring this project to reality. The club has secured a grant to install a water tank which will hopefully make us drought proof, thus enabling us to use all courts over the summer months. Our disability programs are still running with a lot of laughter coming from the courts. It is hard to know who is having the most fun – Matt the coach or his students. We regularly receive positive feedback on our disability program from visitors to the club.

In addition to all of this, we have recently introduced ‘Fast Tennis Thursday’ (a short round robin competition) on Thursday nights which is proving to be a great hit with both young and old alike. Coaching is on five nights a week including programs such as boot camp and squad training. There are many reasons why we are growing as a club but the main ones are the hard work by our coaching staff (Greg, Matt, Natasha, Simon, Brandon, Elizabeth and Chris from Gunn Tennis), Committee members and parents of juniors. With the increase in membership there are many social activities continually taking place, thus making the Fountain Gate Tennis Club a great place to belong. Marlene Fox

Sunday morning is a very social day with a multicultural group taking over and making everyone feel welcome. The Seniors’ Social Tennis Program is growing in numbers, whilst there is also a new mums group playing socially every Friday.

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a bright future Hurlingham Park Tennis Club Hurlingham Park Tennis Club is going through an exciting period of change that we are confident will continue to provide community tennis in the Brighton East area for many years to come. The current drought conditions present challenges for many Victorian based tennis clubs. As a preventative measure we installed two water tanks earlier in the year to ensure that our members could continue to play tennis over the summer months. Our longer term initiative for the sustainability of Hurlingham Park Tennis Club is to replace existing red porous courts with drought tolerant hard courts. Our Committee has worked closely with the Bayside City Council and Tennis Victoria consultants throughout the year during the planning stage. To date, we have been successful in obtaining a minor sports facility grant from the Victorian State Government of $60,000 and a further $20,000 from Bayside City Council which will partially fund our new courts. A quiz night at the Sandringham Yacht Club will also help raise the money required to complete the project, with in excess of 150 people attending. Behind the scenes we have also been working with Christine Baumann at Tennis Victoria to set up Hurlingham Park Tennis Club on Tennis Victoria’s Baseline club membership database. This has saved

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many hours of administration by enabling all existing Hurlingham Park Tennis Club members registered with Tennis Victoria to be uploaded into Baseline. Christine’s support with Baseline training has been great and will enable our club to better manage our club membership details and invoicing, which in turn will help to better track and increase our club’s revenue. In addition, it will ensure that all playing members are covered with the protection of Personal Accident Insurance (PAI) and have access to a number of discounts and special offers through Tennis Victoria. We still have a lot of work ahead of us in 2009 to reach our goals, but with the ongoing help of club volunteers and our continued affiliation with Tennis Victoria, we are confident that the current momentum that Hurlingham Park Tennis Club has will put us in good stead to achieve it. Gary Raymer


seniors’ social tennis program a big hit Knox City Tennis Club This year has been a particularly good year for the seniors group at the Knox City Tennis Club as we continue to grow in numbers and regular attendance.

In July we had a ‘Christmas in July’ lunch at the clubhouse after our usual Thursday game which was a great social success.

Last year many of our group were casual players who have now taken the next step and officially joined the club. This has benefited the club not only financially but practically as we willingly attend working bees and social occasions. Some of our senior members, who are up to 82 years old, volunteer to do repairs and odd jobs which would otherwise be left to the overworked Committee members. Through the help of Tennis Victoria we can now be in touch with similar senior tennis groups in our area and arrange interclub visits.

Seniors tennis is certainly proving to be an integral part of the health and wellbeing of the older members of our community. The standard of play has also improved considerably with two people joining competition teams within the club. Gillian Pronk

We had ten people ready to enter the Masters Tennis competition previously held during Seniors Week in October but unfortunately the competition didn’t happen this year. Here’s hoping that Tennis Victoria can run it again next year as we shall certainly support it. The group has been extended to include members from other teams who through injury or illness have been unable to play tennis for a while so are looking for a friendly hit without the pressure of competition.

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junior committee a success Laverton Park Tennis Club The Junior Committee at the Laverton Park Tennis Club was one of the first junior committees formed to represent juniors at a tennis club. The committee consists of juniors within the club who want to make a difference to the club and within the community.

Achievement one: The Senior Committee at Laverton Park Tennis Club was not having much luck with the Local Council on the parking and safety issues at the club, so the Junior Committee decided to take over. The tennis club and courts are situated on a main road and safety was a serious issue for children, parents and the community. They wrote to Council stating their case in requesting more safety for the children and community members in relation to parking and footpath safety around the club. As a result, the Council issued a $50,000 grant to fix parking and safety problems around the Merton Street courts.

Achievement two: At Laverton Park Tennis Club we teach our children to be sun smart. The Junior Committee presented to the Senior Committee an idea of having a shade area erected over one of the long seats facing our courts. The Senior Committee sourced grant options to help our juniors achieve their goal. Along with the Tennis Victoria/VicHealth Shade Grant Scheme, Senior

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Committee and parents, the Laverton Park Tennis Club received a $1,000 grant and now has a shaded area over the seat. Since the Junior Committee was formed, and imple­ mented the above initiatives, the look of the club has improved which has in turn lifted the spirits of our members who take pride in the clubhouse and courts. Since the improvements, the club has seen an increase in people taking up tennis and getting involved with the club. The club has added new programs including a seniors’ tennis competition night and more coaching programs for children. Tennis Victoria has also contacted our club for information to assist them in implementing a Junior Committee at other clubs. The Junior Committee have shown that if they work together and commit to a project they can achieve their goals. At the last Junior Committee meeting there was discussion relating to sponsorship and fundraising ideas and also ways to lobby Council for two new courts and a clubhouse. Time will tell how they go. Susanne Crotch


serving gen x and gen y Melbourne University Tennis Club In today’s society, the focus of young adults and young professionals is often on developing their minds through study and starting their careers; and often this demographic find it difficult to integrate sport into their busy work and social schedules. The Melbourne University Tennis Club (MUTC) seeks to attract young adults to sporting activities to ensure they maintain a focus on their health and wellbeing by offering a range of competitive and social opportunities to suit the X and Y generations who live in the inner city. MUTC has expanded its competitive opportunities to include the Annual MU Open Doubles Tournament. This club tournament, held in October, includes men’s, women’s and mixed doubles. It adds to the club’s existing program of weekly internal club competitions which are held on Tuesday and Thursday evenings and Sunday afternoons. Regional competitions are held on Monday nights and Saturdays and tournaments such as the Annual MU Open Singles, the Australian University Games and the Australian Corporate Games are held throughout the year.

of spectators is achieved at the MU Open Doubles Tournament final by incorporating the finals matches with a social event at Melbourne Park. The club provides access to 16 of the courts at Melbourne Park enabling club members, friends and family to play social tennis on a Friday night in October. The integration of this new tournament with a key social event on the MUTC calendar helps to provide an environment in which club members want to be actively involved. These types of events and activities encourage life-long friendships to be created and ensure that club members continue to be involved in the club beyond the years of their university studies. Lisa Ng

The MU Open Doubles Tournament culminates with the finals, held on the show courts at Melbourne Park. MUTC appreciates the value of social events to ensure greater cohesion within teams and also more broadly amongst the members of the club. A large crowd

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multicultural program Our Lady’s Sunshine Tennis Club Having agreed to run the Multicultural Program on behalf of Tennis Victoria during Term 4 in 2008 I was not sure what to expect. We were advised that there would be 20-30 Sudanese Australian Integrated Learning (SAIL) participants taking part in the four week program and that they would have limited tennis knowledge and ages would range from 5-16. Twenty-six participants turned up on day one all eager to get their hands on racquets and display their prowess at playing tennis. After a quick run through the main shots and safety guidelines it was time to let them loose. Multiple games of ‘Beat the Champ’ were set up, and with the help of their guides, some very competitive matches were soon in play. What I soon discovered was that amongst this group of novices were some very athletic individuals and the majority were extremely competitive. Watching a seven year old play a 16 year old and see their joy at winning a point to become ‘champ’ of their court made my time all the more enjoyable, especially when the older child begged to get another chance so as not to lose their ‘champ’ status.

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After the four week program all participants knew what to do and made the most of their time by helping with setting up. All participants were offered discount coaching, membership and court playing times. To date, several students have taken up coaching and are keen to get involved in competition. With Our Ladys Tennis Club being in the heart of Melbourne’s west and with such a broad diversity in the immediate population, the club is aiming to embrace all groups and make tennis available to them. Programs such as this provided by Tennis Victoria will go a long way to ensuring the game is available to all in our community. Craig Vaughan


a year of great achievements St Christopher’s Tennis Club St Christopher’s Tennis Club ran its third successful annual junior tennis day in the September school holidays with the help of several committee members and the valuable assistance of club coach, Cynthia Doerner. This year saw the most number of children (approximately 27) participating, which is considerably higher in attendance from the previous year. With a perfect spring day and the waft of sausages sizzling in the background everyone had a great day along with the sounds of laughter reverberating around the courts. This day was very kindly supported by Tennis Victoria who donated prizes for the children and a radar gun to record serving speed. We extend our thanks to Tennis Victoria.

Our Wednesday men’s team excelled themselves this year by taking out two Pennant flags which a great achievement. Two teams from the mid-week ladies competition made their respective finals and did the club proud. Finally, our Saturday team in Winter B Grade 3 mixed rubber/sets combined excellently and very convincingly took out the coveted award. The successful year was finished off with our annual Christmas round robin and Christmas dinner in the club house. This is always provided unselfishly and lovingly by the ladies of our committee and is always the highlight and culmination of our year. Lynette Buckley

The courts are in excellent condition thanks to our Committee members who have worked diligently to maintain them over the dry summer period. The surrounds are also lovingly cared for at various working bees held throughout the year. The highlight of our year can be shown in the results of our competition achievements. Five premiership flags were brought home this year and now hang proudly in the clubhouse along with the countless other flags proudly won throughout the club’s 40 year history.

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tennis the winner Swifts Creek Tennis Club Swifts Creek is a small town in East Gippsland and along with Ensay, Omeo and Benambra make up the Omeo District Tennis Association.

everyone counts! Now every Tuesday anyone can play together and participants pay $2 in the honesty box (or become members).

Due to devastating fires, floods and the drought in Victoria many small clubs have struggled to survive. Local clubs were affected with competitions cancelled due to the fires. The club rooms became a first aid post and courts were in a security area. Nobody won that year! However, nearly every small town has a court and tennis is such an easy game to access without a big outlay. It just needs a bit of effort on the ground at the club.

Junior coaching will hopefully recommence soon with the newly appointed coach at Bairnsdale. The children love this and some travel to Bairnsdale or Lakes Entrance to play junior competition. The club also encourages juniors to play in the Saturday afternoon competition as they keep the competition alive by making up numbers. Even though the calibre of play may not be high, the parents enjoy playing with their children. There is a real caring side to the teams as they show juniors where to stand, to shake hands after the match and pick up balls. Swifts Creek has great spirit and I encourage others to utilise the Tennis Victoria programs available to them.

At the end of last year the club ran an ‘Introduction to Coaching’ course allowing fourteen participants to gain valuable hands-on skills. Parents now hit with their own children and the local teachers who attended use their knowledge in and out of school hours. A big bonus was the equipment left for all the clubs to use, including tennis rackets, balls and small portable nets. Fantastic! This lead to the club applying to run Tennis Victoria’s Mums’ Tennis Program. Fourteen women and five toddlers from Swifts Creek, Ensay and Omeo participated with four women staying on to play Saturday competition. Some of the women had never met before and after the first week, lunch was taken along and everyone sat under the trees and socialised together or went back and had another hit. As a result of running the program, the club has gained memberships and with an average of around 20 members per club

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Steven Richardson


ace time for mums Warrandyte Tennis Club In late 2008 I trialed Tennis Victoria’s Mums’ Tennis Program at the Warrandyte Tennis Club. I was a little apprehensive about running the program, but as I had only taken over the club at the start of the year I was willing to try new things to grow the coaching program. I promoted the program to all of my existing students and a couple of the local schools put a blurb in their newsletter. The response I received was overwhelming. I had over 60 mums respond and I was able to form eight groups of six students. I also ran the tiny tots program which was critical to the success of the program.

The Mums’ Tennis Program also generated interest in the other activities I run at the club. I picked up new school age children in my regular coaching programs. The end result has seen 28 new mums, 16 tiny tots and 20 children become permanent students which is a significant increase to my coaching numbers whilst also filling a timeslot that was previously unused. Craig Haslam

After the program finished I offered the mums a rate just below my standard rate to continue for the remaining three weeks of the term. Most of them continued and the program was off and running. I incorporated an existing ladies group into the time slot and I currently have eight groups of four still going along with the tiny tots. The program is open to all adults (with or without children) and because I have a good variety of standards across the groups I can accommodate any new addition.

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Tankworld-Rebound Ace Country Week Victorian Country Tennis Association Now in its twenty-eighth year, the 2009 TankworldRebound Ace Victorian Country Tennis Association (VCTA) Country Week tournament was played at the Wodonga Tennis Centre with over 1,000 players competing in 180 teams from around Victoria. Over the course of the week, matches were played at both the Wodonga and Albury Tennis Centres, while an extra 40 temporary grass courts were set-up on the adjoining Kelly Park. In total, 90 courts were utilised to ensure the event’s success. It was an enormous job for Green Director Shane Ried to prepare Kelly Park which is a soccer and cricket oval. Work began months in advance on the surface preparation. In total, 40 courts were marked out on the field, while fencing and netting was erected by volunteers. The 2009 event was a little different to past years as the tournament was running at a time when much of Victoria’s focus was on the tragic bushfires. Players rallied to ensure they did not miss the chance to take part in the annual tournament, further cementing how special Country Week, and tennis, is to them. In a show of unity, strength and love for tennis, only two teams (both from Gippsland) pulled out of the event to stay and fight the bushfires. Many teams had to find alternative routes to reach Wodonga due to road closures, while others drove up the Hume Highway with limited visibility. A collection box was set up at ‘Bignalls Bar’ to help raise money for those affected by the bushfires. In addition, John Falk from Tankworld donated $1,500 to the appeal with Tennis Victoria matching the money raised dollarfor-dollar. In total, $14,000 was raised toward the Tennis Bushfire Relief Appeal.

Competitors also enjoyed a fantastic social calendar allowing them to relax away from the competition and socialise with players from other teams who they only get to see once a year. The Gala Ball was held on the Monday night and was attended by over 200 people. VCTA administrators Pat Gilchrist and Carol Pearce made a special presentation on the night to John Falk from Tankworld for 15 years of sponsorship. Adding to the great atmosphere were the efforts some teams went to to play in coordinated outfits, including the teams from Jindera, Yinnar, Kerang and Sunbury. Teams from Bendigo were the big winners of the week, with the Bendigo Swans defeating Mud Island in the A Grade Men’s final, while the team from Tandara defended their title, defeating the Mud Island Swans in a tight tie-break to win the A Grade Women’s title. Winners in other grades were well spread out from across regional Victoria, proving that once again, tennis was the big winner. The 2010 Country Week tournament will be held in Swan Hill from 8-12 February. Registrations will open in October.


Tennis Victoria Locked Bag 6001 Richmond, Victoria 3121 T (03) 8420 8420 F (03) 9427 9698 E tvreception@tennisvic.com.au


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