FRONT COVER

Tennis VictoriaClub Ambassador Success Stories 2009

tennis.com.au/vic

contents Burden Park solves water problem – Burden Park Tennis Club 4 Access for all – Fountain Gate Tennis Club 6 Redesigning for the future – Geelong Lawn Tennis Cub 7 A community club – Glenvale Tennis Club 8 Facelift for clubrooms – Grace Valley Tennis Club 9 Uniformity at Gracedale Park Tennis Club – Gracedale Park Tennis Club 10 Triple treat - water, new members and publicity – Hawthorn Tennis Club 11 Mammoth year at Healesville – Healesville Tennis Club 12 Anyone can join a committee – Kilmore Tennis Club 13 16 year-old superstar coach – Kinglake Ranges Tennis Club 15 Getting more juniors involved – Kyabram Lawn Tennis Club 16 Information Technology booms Association – Macedon Ranges Tennis Association 17 Resurface and refurbish – Phillip Island Tennis Club 18 Magnificent mums – Red Cliffs Lawn Tennis Club 19 Golden oldies – Rye Tennis Club 20 Five years of exciting development – Sale Tennis Club 21 Disability program is booming – South Gisborne Tennis Club 22 Extra court to ease the burden – Tally Ho Tennis Club 23 Country Week goes from strength to strength – Victorian Country Tennis Association 24 Werribee goes multicultural – Werribee Central Tennis Club 25 Small town with a big heart – Yaapeet Tennis Club 26

Tennis Victoria Club Ambassadors are proudly supported by:

This booklet demonstrates the fantastic achievements of Club Ambassadors in 2009. The stories consider categories such as i n c re a s i n g 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 Club Ambassador.

Who can become a Club Ambassador?Anyone at your club can become a Club Ambassador. All you need is a current e-mail address and a commitment to communicate information f rom Tennis Vic tor ia to your c lub members and committee.

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

Want more information?More information can be found on the Tennis Victoria website tennis.com.au/vic (Clubs/Resources/Volunteers).

Alternatively please call 8420 8420 or e-mail tvreception@tennis.com.au.

33

Burden Park Tennis Clubburden park solves water problem

The ever increasing threat of Victoria’s diminishing water levels and the resulting Stage 3a water restrictions imposed on Melbourne meant that only 50 percent of our red porous courts could be watered. This was a major problem as all six of our courts were constantly in high demand.

Compounding the problem was a surge in interest in local tennis that resulted in a significant jump in membership. Further, an increase in coaching demands, a leap in social tennis activity and an increase in the number of junior teams playing competition added to the issue of court availability.

Needing to optimise court availability, the committee had to find an alternative to meet the demands by members to give them more access to the courts. The drilling of a bore for ground water seemed to be the most suitable solution.

After serious consideration the committee successfully applied to Southern Rural Water for a licence to ‘bore’ and for a licence to draw water from a ground water source.

The financial commitment was approximately $26,000, which we could not meet from our own resources. We approached Tennis Victoria with a view to obtaining their advice and assistance with respect to grants and funding that might be available for water saving projects.

After some discussion, Tennis Victoria made us aware of Tennis Australia’s National Court Rebate Scheme and suggested that our capital works

project may qualify for a $12,000 grant if our application was successful.

After many hours of work on our application, and with a supporting letter from Tennis Victoria, we submitted our application to Tennis Australia in February 2009. We were advised some weeks later that our application for $12,000 was approved.

The project commenced in early March 2009. The first stage was to drill down 67 metres to find suitable ground water. The installation of a 9000 litre tank and articulated piping to the courts completed the project. The project took about a month to complete, and now all six courts are being watered by bore water without restrictions. As a result, our annual consumption from South East Water has dropped by 84 percent, saving us a significant amount of money on our annual water bill.

This project has guaranteed the future of our club and ensured that our red porous courts will not deteriorate over time due to lack of watering.

We are grateful for Tennis Victoria’s assistance in helping to make this project possible.

Gwen Bryant - Club Ambassador Brian Cahill - Secretary

4 5

access for all

Fountain Gate Tennis Club

Another year has passed at Fountain Gate Tennis Club and we are still going from strength to strength. Our membership base is in excess of 230 members and we now have 20 junior teams competing in the Berwick and District Association.

As a medium-sized tennis centre, we have had trouble supporting the growth in membership and have had to find other tennis venues to allow our junior teams to participate. Our coaching programs and squad training are in popular demand, occurring every night of the week. With thanks to our hard-working junior committee, and a lot of movement of teams, we have been able to accommodate everyone. To support our programs, we have a seniors Saturday and a mid-week ladies’ team playing in the Waverley and District Association competition.

At Fountain Gate Tennis Club we open our doors to people of all abilities and our disability groups have a fantastic time. Our very popular Sunday morning multicultural group consists of individuals with multiple backgrounds and allows them to come down and have a hit in a round-robin tournament. We currently have 50 players who regularly participate in this program.

We have set up a 35+ Seniors’ Social Program to allow older individuals to come and have a casual hit on Monday morning. Due to the success of

the Mums’ Program in Term 4, a mums group has started up on Fridays to encourage new members to come down.

With the help of our coaching staff, the State Member for Narre Warren North, Mr Luke Donellan MP and Tennis Victor ia , we are currently in discussion with Hallam Secondary College and Hallam Primary School to introduce tennis programs and the Active After-schools Communities (AASC) program into these schools.

We targeted Hallam Secondary College as we discovered they have four tennis courts which are currently not used and Hallam has a huge population. In addition, our committee and members feel that it would be the best way to introduce more children to our great sport.

There are many reasons to be a part of our vibrant club. Apart from all the tennis being played there are numerous social activities and friendly gatherings. Without the hard work of all our coaching staff (Greg, Matt, Chris, Elizabeth, Brandon and Karl), committee members and parents, our club would not be the great tennis club it is today.

Marlene Fox – Membership Contact Person

redesigning for the future

Geelong Lawn Tennis Club

In December 2006, with the introduction of Stage 4 water restrictions in country Victoria and stagnating membership numbers, the future for Geelong Lawn Tennis Club looked bleak. Stage 4 water restrictions meant no mains water was available to water the courts. As 25 of our 28 tennis courts are grass or red porous, water had to be trucked in, costing the club in excess of $800 each week.

Moving forward to October 2009, and the club has undergone some significant changes. It was apparent that a strategy was needed to ensure the future success of the Geelong Lawn Tennis Club. In February 2008, the club developed a Strategic Business Plan for the period 2008-2011. This plan was developed after extensive consultation with key stakeholders, including a survey of all club members. Amongst other priorities, the club established a goal of reducing mains water use by 50 percent.

To this end, seven of the 13 grass courts have had sub-surface drip irrigation installed, which promises to halve water use. Four of the clubs 12 red porous courts have also been converted to Plexicushion, with the assistance of the Tennis Australia National Court Rebate Scheme, local council and State Government funding.

The other major change for the club has been the conversion of part of an existing billiard room to

a modern fitness studio, housing state-of-the-art Nautilus equipment. Over 300 new and existing members have completed an induction to use the room since it opened in April 2009. A local fitness trainer trains his clients at the club and also offers a service to members.

As a result, the club is ‘open for business’ from 6am weekdays, and provides its members the opportunity to participate in racquet sports with three squash and racquetball courts in addition to the tennis courts, as well as keep healthy and in shape using the fitness studio. Membership numbers have risen from 680 in April 2009 to just over 850. The club is now ranked number one in terms of membership numbers in Tennis Victoria’s Top 20 Community Club Program.

These key strategies for the 127 year-old Geelong institution and Australia’s oldest provincial club will ensure its existence for years to come.

Ken Barton - Manager

6 7

a community club

Glenvale Tennis Club

Set in the serene greenbelt of Glen Waverley, located opposite Shepherd’s Bush State Park and adjacent to the 16th hole of the Glen Waverley Golf Course, Glenvale Tennis Club’s six courts are regularly used by our large membership base.

Our membership has remained strong over recent years, primarily because of the club’s ease of access via a swipe card, low maintenance, environmentally and family friendly mod-grass courts and plenty of car parking. In December 2009 the club conducted yet another successful Club Open Day, which saw a further 10% increase in member numbers.

Our facilities are used for senior and junior competitions (inter and intra club competitions are held mid-week, Saturdays and evenings), social play (members and their paying guests) and coaching. This encompasses both individual and group lessons and we have a relatively large group of youngsters who enjoy regular lessons from our club coach, Dean Ashton. In addition, Dean trains a motivated tennis squad that acts as a feeder into the Waverley and District Tennis Association (WDTA).

Saturdays are always an intense affair with our 10+ junior teams conducting their home WDTA competition matches from 8am-12pm, followed by the three senior teams in the afternoon. The in-house junior competition on Friday evenings

during summer has been a great success with a regular turn-out of 25 juniors competing intensely until 8pm before a BBQ and social game of soccer is played. Periodically, the club makes its courts available for use by local community groups, such as schools, for their practice and interschool competitions.

Our well maintained facilities and surrounds, active committee of management and our keen focus on expanding and supporting the interests of our members has proven effective over many years. When coupled with conducting regular Club Open Days and other such promotional activities we have maintained our membership numbers, the springboard for future growth.

The 2009 year has come to an end with the club maintaining a strong financial base, despite having some of the lowest membership fees in the area. As we look towards meeting future requirements, continued growth will see us needing to upgrade/expand and we are looking forward to working with Tennis Victoria.

Rudi Koenig – Vice President

facelift for clubrooms

Grace Valley Tennis Club

In April 2009 our club coach, Cameron MacColl, ran Tennis Victoria’s Mums’ Program on Friday mornings. The mums who participated in the program were all new to the club and were invited into the clubhouse for a cup of tea afterwards. The mums declined after looking dubiously at our facilities. This was a cause for concern. Our clubhouse was looking tired and unwelcoming. Many of our members were also beginning to notice and it was identified as a possible deterrent to new members.

A long-standing club member, who was about to move overseas, was keen to help. Mark Kirkham determined a budget of $5000 was required in order to complete the refurbishment. The committee was delighted to grant the money and see someone with initiative who was willing to put in the time and effort to benefit the club. Mark and Cameron formed a small but effective sub-committee to oversee the project and immediately got to work.

Firstly, to improve the interior of the club, they purchased three comfy couches and a carpet square to brighten up the cold tiled floor. To encourage members to socialise and entice them to the clubhouse a coffee machine was also added. With the assistance of Peter Scheiber, a member who is an architect, a feature wall was designed and created a visual focus for the room.

These changes started to create a sense of excitement around the club. To paint the clubroom, three ladies offered to choose the colour scheme and do the painting. The finishing touch was the purchasing and installation of notice boards and whiteboards. Through the hard work of the sub-committee and volunteers the clubrooms were transformed.

A fundrais ing round-robin day has been scheduled to help raise the money for a new plasma television which will be mounted on the feature wall.

Since this time, several mums from the Mums’ Program have now joined the club. Much to our delight, they now stay for a coffee and chat after they have finished playing tennis. Our existing members are delighted that the changes to the clubhouse have created a much friendlier environment. Opposition players are also impressed with the change. Overall, it has been of great benefit to everyone and has been fairly cheaply and quickly achieved. Our thanks go to all the various club members who volunteered their time and/or abilities.

Robyn Ferguson - Secretary

8 9

uniformity at gracedale park tennis club

Gracedale Park Tennis Club

I t will be a smart looking outfit from the Gracedale Park juniors this year, thanks to receiving a $3000 Woolworths Fresh Kids Community Grant. The club was presented with the cheque by Woolworth representative Bradley Canning, from Woolworths at Canterbury Gardens. Woolworths Fresh Kids Community Grants are designed specifically to benefit the kids at the tennis club.

It was important that the money be spent wisely and in the long-term interests of our junior players. The committee’s decision was to provide uniforms for all junior players, including sun hats and matching polo shirts, all displaying the Gracedale Park Tennis Club logo. Comfort and look were important factors and after much deliberation the logo and fabric was chosen, much to the delight of the juniors.

Like many clubs, Gracedale Park had experienced declining numbers until Junior Coordinator, Steve Morgan and President, Gary Sebire introduced a social round-robin competition on Friday evenings. The results have been fantastic for the juniors, with in excess of 55 kids now participating. In fact, the response has been so good that we had to extend it to include Thursday night. More importantly, from these 55 participants, 30 have gone on to represent the club in Saturday morning competition.

Thanks to the Woolworths Fresh Kids Community Grant these juniors now proudly display the Gracedale Park Tennis Club logo when representing the club. The club is grateful for the generosity of Woolworths and is delighted that they have been able to target these funds specifically for the interests of the juniors. The kids look proud to be part of the Gracedale Park Tennis Club and we certainly ask them to represent the club and wear the new uniform proudly.

The new look juniors are one of many changes you will notice around Gracedale Park Tennis Club. Community grants are an excellent way to help sporting clubs through their financial woes. We have also been able to secure grants to fund two water tanks, drought-proof the courts with magnesium chloride, supply new tennis equipment and update our Honour Board.

Shane Broderick - Secretary

triple treat – water, new members and publicity

Hawthorn Tennis Club

After 104 years in operation, the Hawthorn Tennis Club had a major problem – watering seven red porous courts. Whilst the surface was great for the joints and great preparation for European clay, the question was posed “what do we do during the drought”?

The club learned of possible Commonwealth Government funding. Work ing with, and supported by, Tennis Victoria and Boroondara City Council, an innovative solution emerged to water management and a project application was approved. The Community Water Grant scheme provided a much appreciated $37,000, while the club contributed $22,000.

Three tanks now har vest water from the clubhouse roof, the courts’ run-off and, with Boroondara City Council’s co-operation, from the roof of an adjoining council building. Located on council land, and with a total capacity of 90,000 litres, the tanks provide water for the courts and toilets. Mains water usage has now fallen below 10 percent of its historical average, reinforcing our standing as a responsible community body.

The grant required publicity and, when holding a function, invitations to federal politicians. A Club Open Day seemed a good way to launch the system and invitations went out. Federal Member for Kooyong, Mr Petro Georgiou MP, accepted, as did Senator Judith Troeth. Club member, and Leader of the Opposition, Mr Ted

Baillieu MP, Cr. Phil Meggs and Tennis Victoria’s President, David Stobart also confirmed their attendance. With a star-studded official party the Club Open Day needed to be successful.

Enlisting Tennis Victoria’s help with planning proved invaluable as promotional ideas and checklists were provided, along with great help from staff. Perhaps even better was the loan of a radar gun! The day attracted more than 200 people with 43 new members signing up.

Many of the new members have become active in competitions, social events and even committees. Outstandingly, one became club champion and undefeated in Grade 2 Pennant. A postgraduate student who came to the club after seeing the Club Open Day promotion, Aniket Ghaskadvi, was featured in the Progress Leader newspaper.

The lesson learned from all these initiatives is to work with the support of Tennis Victoria on technical issues such as how to ensure adequate water supply. Additionally, utilise their expertise in organising major events and tell them about any innovations or achievements that might be shared. And don’t forget to invite them along to the party!

Neil Pearce - Secretary

10 11

mammoth year at healesville

Healesville Tennis Club

We have had a mammoth year at Healesville Tennis Club in 2009, celebrating the clubs 120th anniversary with a special birthday for the club. Currently the club has 180 members, ranging from veterans and mid-week ladies to Saturday morning juniors.

In order to cater for all abilities we offer disabled tennis sessions twice per term and a fun introduction to tennis for beginners or ‘rusty’ players over a four-week program each term. Wayne Broom, our club coach, has been busy coaching about 80 players each week.

Club planning is also important at the club and we have spent a large amount of time setting up a constitution, which, much to our surprise is being used by Tennis Victoria as a sample document in its online club development resource, Game Set Match.

In order to move with the times, Healesville Tennis Club was interested in utilising the My Tennis program to upgrade our own membership database. Committee members attended the training sessions provided and with more support, we have adopted this program for paying our fees and we’re glad to report that it works for us.

Robert Cameron, a junior member, applied to attend the Future Leaders camp in July. Future Leaders is for year 10 and 11 students to give

them an insight into a sports administration career. As part of the program Robert was required to complete 40 hours of volunteer work back at the club. Robert was called upon to devise something that would help the club attract new players. He decided to run a 10-week twilight tennis competition at Healesville after school on a Friday night. As a result, Healesville was able to enjoy having all the courts full with 20 juniors participating – many who had never played tennis before. On the final week a presentation and BBQ was held. All round, this was another fabulous successful initiative which we owe thanks to Robert and Tennis Victoria for.

After last year’s amazingly successful Mums’ Program, we decided to run another program in 2009. This was even more popular than the first and our coach ran two groups. Four volunteer child-carers amused the children while the mums participated in the program. Of the 11 participants, many intend to become members and all plan to continue with tennis. We look forward to offering this each year as it is a tremendous way to open our doors to new members.

Kathleen Cameron - President

anyone can join a committee

Kilmore Tennis Club

Juniors in tennis clubs are not limited to just playing tennis for their club, as I have discovered. Joining your tennis club’s committee is a great way to find out how your club is run and also gives you an opportunity to voice your opinion on what you would l ike to see happen in your club.

After completing the Future Leaders Program I became a committee member. Over the past six months I have attended monthly meetings, ran a trivia night for the juniors, helped out at our annual tournament and coached beginners on Monday’s after school. The beginners program started with only six children and now has grown to around 30 children aged between four and eight years old. The four junior committee members, who also coach, are greatly appreciated and not overlooked. We run the program for one hour and the children love coming each week, and I really enjoy coaching them.

Another benefit of joining the committee was the ability to provide ideas on how to get more juniors involved in tennis, running social events and activities and mentoring younger juniors. Taking on a role on the committee makes you feel important to the club, gives you responsibility and allows you to gain valuable work experience.

There are many roles you can perform on a club committee, so just talk to a committee member about joining. If the club does not have juniors on the committee, then put the idea forward and they should be more than happy to accept you.

Juniors are a very important part of any club and any committee should be grateful and feel extremely fortunate to have junior members involved. We don’t stay juniors forever and as we get older, we need another reason to still be part of our club and feel valued.

Have a say and contribute to your tennis club and your community by joining your committee.

Ricky Camilleri – Future Leaders Participant

12 13

16 year-old superstar coach

Kinglake Ranges Tennis Club

At the Kinglake Ranges Tennis Club we believe Michael Stott is a great club ambassador. Despite only being 16 years old, Michael is a member of both the Whittlesea and Kinglake Ranges Tennis Clubs. He lives in Kinglake West and was directly affected by the Black Saturday bushfires. Soon after the bushfires we approached Michael to take up the vacant and struggling position of club coach. We knew he was an avid tennis player with much to offer to our community.

With the help and support of Tennis Victoria, Michael successfully completed the Junior Development Coaching Course. He has since run Club Open Days, free coaching sessions and ‘come and try’ days to show the community that tennis is back and alive in the Kinglake Ranges. He has actively been involved with the Kinglake West and Middle Kinglake Schools and the Active After-school Communities (AASC) programs. He also held the Mums’ Program which generated much interest in tennis on the mountain. He is now continuing with the mums by running the Ladies’ Social Program.

Membership in the Kinglake Ranges Tennis Club is slowly growing, although the aftermath of the devastating fires has had a major impact in this area. However, coaching at the tennis club has significantly grown. As an extremely keen and passionate tennis player, Michael has given this commitment and opportunity 100 percent. He has made himself available to coach or hit with members whenever they ask. To further Michael’s coaching experience he has been working

with other coaches in the area. It is of great benefit to Michael and the Kinglake Ranges Tennis Club that he works with the coaches at Mill Park and Yan Yean. The development of activities and expertise he is exposed to can only benefit the community of Kinglake as Michael facilitates his own comprehensive skill-based and fun coaching programs.

Michael has registered as an MLC Tennis Hot Shots deliverer and will run this program for the first time during Term 1, 2010. We are very keen to continue supporting Michael in his endeavours to increase membership and foster the love of tennis in Kinglake.

As you can see, Michael has been able to turn a very sad and devastating event into a positive one in our community. We at the Kinglake Ranges Tennis club are extremely proud of his achievements and wish his continued success.

Julie Stott – Club Ambassador

14 15

getting more juniors involved

Kyabram Lawn Tennis Club

Kyabram Lawn Tennis Club (KLTC) implemented the MLC Tennis Hot Shots program for the first time in Term 4, 2009 and the program well and truly exceeded our expectations. The club was hopeful of registering around 12 children in its first season so we were delighted when we had 29 kids aged between five and nine turn up for our registration day. To have this many new inductees to tennis and our tennis club is fantastic.

Of these 29 children only nine of them currently have family playing tennis with KLTC, while over half of the children are boys. Normally, 80 percent of them would be involved in the local Milo in2CRICKET program. We had parents asking us if we were going to be running the program in other terms so the children can continue on or for new children to join.

As the current club President, I was one of the driving forces behind the implementation of the MLC Tennis Hot Shots program as I was concerned about the drop in junior numbers in recent years. I was particularly concerned that tennis seemed to have no real program to compete with those in operation for juniors in other sports. Once I heard about MLC Tennis Hot Shots I did some research and had discussions with Tennis Victoria and our club coach, David Starling. David and the club came

to an agreement that we believe is beneficial to both parties with David running the program on a Saturday morning with our assistance. The program was advertised via word of mouth, school newsletters and a brief story in the local newspaper.

Each week David runs the training session as outlined in the MLC Tennis Hot Shots teaching pack with the assistance of three senior club members.

From a club perspective it is awesome to see children wanting to play tennis and really enjoying themselves. The club now has the opportunity to involve these new families in our social activities, such as the Christmas party. Long-term, we hope this will result in new members to our club. We strongly recommend to all clubs to encourage children to embrace tennis and to give the MLC Tennis Hot Shots program a try. We are already fine-tuning our program in the hope that it will be even more successful in 2010.

Mark Schumann - President

information technology booms association

Macedon Ranges Tennis Association

The Macedon Ranges Tennis Association (MRTA) is a technological success story. The Association is a progressive one, providing their affiliated clubs with effective communication and achieving their goal – more people enjoying tennis in the Macedon Ranges.

We believe the success of the Association is most likely a result of being proactive in the information technology area as our website receives a lot of ‘hits’ and is used for the distribution of information, score submissions and ladders.

There has been a real focus on the different methods of communication. The Association also uses email extensively and has recently started to experiment with Twitter and Facebook.

The aim is to target a younger demographic with these methods of communication. There is also an Association newsletter that is distributed a few times per year, and the Association is now in the process of switching membership data to Tennis Victoria’s My Tennis program to better manage membership and communicate to members.

MRTA has 17 vibrant clubs full of enthusiastic players of all ages. Competitions are played during summer and winter, including open Pennant on Saturday a f ter noons, n ight competition and Junior Pennant on Friday night

and Saturday morning. MRTA has a thriving junior competition with over 300 players with skills ranging from A grade to D grade. They have two excellent sanctioned junior tournaments attracting players from the city as well as distant regional areas. These are played on 110 courts which have a broad range of surfaces including natural grass, synthetic grass, red porous, acrylic and asphalt.

Darryl Brick - President

16 17

resurface and refurbish

Phillip Island Tennis Club

The Phillip Island Tennis Club has recently resurfaced its courts and refurbished the fencing to create a great facility for members and the many casual visitors that Phillip Island attracts during the holiday seasons.

After saving steadily for a number of years the club applied for, and received, a generous grant of $60,000 from Sport and Recreation Victoria’s Community Facility Funding program. To complete the project we worked closely with the Bass Coast Shire Council and Tennis Victoria. Additionally, the club used Tennis Victoria’s Technical Services Department as the Project Manager. The club re-surfaced the four cracked and ageing concrete courts with Sand Filled Artificial Grass.

Headed by Ted Sims, Recreational Turf Surfaces carried out the resurfacing works, whilst also successfully addressing the extensive drainage problems that had been escalating under the courts for a number of years. The work was carried out in October 2008, with the courts ready for play during the 2008/09 season.

Whilst the courts were being resurfaced the committee decided it was the ideal time to renovate the fences surrounding the courts. Rob Grogan from Hyline Fencing efficiently replaced the wire, repainted existing support beams and secured the fencing around the clubhouse.

In conjunction with the Visitor’s Information Centre, the club rents out the courts to visitors seven days a week, with the tourism website allowing for online bookings to be made.

The end result of years of saving, a strategy set out by the club and hard work by the current committee has produced smar t look ing, suitable courts that members and visitors thoroughly enjoy. The club is now starting to reap the rewards with a noticeable increase in membership throughout 2009.

Maxine McDonald - President

magnificent mums

Red Cliffs Lawn Tennis Club

Our ears pricked up when we heard about Tennis Victoria’s Mums’ Program, providing an opportunity to get the lost tennis generation back into action! We saw the program as a golden opportunity to increase club membership, fill in the 25 to 35 year old gap in the ladies field and save the sanity of a number of desperate housewives - in a healthy manner. So we registered with Tennis Victoria, recruited a heap of coaching and babysitting volunteers and waited, hoping that someone out there had heard the call.

Day one of the program and we couldn’t believe what we saw - 28 enthusiastic mums dragging 25 ankle and knee-biters with them. Far from being embarrassed at being overstaffed, our troop of volunteers quickly rallied and deployed a tiny-tots coaching clinic, playground supervision and a nursery nanny. Much to our surprise there was even a five-week old baby among them.

The ladies were blown away with our brilliant courts, caring but tough coaches, modern amenities and most of all, our secure child-minding fac i l i t ies . So much so that the numbers remained constant for the entirety of the program which, I must add, spanned an unbearable heat-wave.

At the end of the program the feedback was most encouraging. The ladies appreciated the

opportunity to network, work out and work off their pent up frustrations. They felt that because of the program they were happier, healthier and wanted to carry on regardless as fully paid-up members.

Now our courts are graced every Monday morning with a group of up to 20 magnificent mums keeping the dream alive. To support them we are going to run the program again in 2010 and interest is already running hot.

We recently received partnership funding from the Victorian Government and Mildura Rural City Council to install four drought defying synthetic courts for year-round use which will be ready to go in April 2010. This means that the Mums’ Program can continue throughout the school year and the graduates can ‘network’ all year round.

Charlie Griffiths – Club Ambassador

18 19

golden oldies

Rye Tennis Club

The Rye Tennis Club is situated on the beautiful Mornington Peninsula. The club is located a few minutes from the beach and adjacent to the Rye Football Club/Skate Park on Melbourne Road.

The Tennis Victoria 35+ Seniors’ Social Program, affectionately known as the ‘Golden Oldies’ at the club, consists of approximately 40 participants. The age of the participants ranges between 50 and 80 and the program is run throughout the year on Tuesday and Friday mornings. To assist with the promotion of the program, the club holds social events and a ‘Christmas day’ function for approximately 60 people.

In addition, the group continues to grow by word of mouth. Our participants range in ability with some playing competition, some involving themselves in the committee and many just coming to enjoy a hit of tennis. The program is also sun conscious, promoting the ‘Slip Slop Slap’ campaign and requires players to wear caps and sensible clothing.

In 2009 two of our ‘Golden Oldies’ played at the World Masters Games in Sydney. Norma Cornish and Alice Gooch, won gold in the doubles (70+ Women’s Recreational Doubles – Group A) and Norma went on to win silver in the singles (70+ Women’s Recreational Singles).

The club itself is environmentally sound and has little need for the use of mains water. Over the

past 20 years, the ten red porous courts have used bore water. Additionally, in conjunction with the Mornington Peninsula Shire, two water tanks have been installed to catch the storm water running off the clubhouse. The surrounding gardens are mulched regularly and the club plants water tolerant plants where possible.

In conclusion, we are very proud of our club and members, especially the ‘Golden Oldies’ who play and stay in tennis for life.

Lorraine Watt – Club Ambassador

five years of exciting development

Sale Tennis Club

Sale Tennis Club was established in 1951 and moved to its current site in 1971, however, by 2005 the almost 40 year-old facility was starting to age badly.

With a highly motivated and committed committee we set about rebuilding the facility to be the pre-eminent facility in Gippsland. The program was supported by Tennis Australia, Tennis Victoria, the Victorian State Government, Wel l ington Shire, a local phi lanthropist , business houses and the wider community.

Over the past five years we have:

• Built two international size show courts

• Completely resurfaced eight courts

• Installed new lights on nine courts

• Extended the clubhouse

• Installed new toilets and showers

• Built a new Pro Shop

• Completed a new kitchen

• Built two new shade structures

• Converted to recycled water in a major water saving initiative

• Built a 200 seat permanent grandstand overlooking the two show courts

As a result of the upgrades, we now have 14 red porous courts and four Lay-Kold courts, all of which have lighting.

In addition to the major facility upgrades, the club has been active in developing community and junior programs to help grow and support the sport of tennis throughout the region. We have a major junior program with up to 140 juniors enjoying summer Pennant and Wilson’s peeWee tennis, while a further 70 juniors participate in winter Pennant. We run night Pennant year-round on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday nights and Saturday seniors Pennant during summer.

We have two full-time and two part-time coaches who assist with our junior Pennant and coaching. We have also participated in Tennis Victoria’s Schools Program and currently cater for two separate groups with disabilities. All of the major schools in our district use our courts for their programs and inter-school and regional competitions. We are now an active vibrant club who participates fully in our local community.

Robin Lowe – President

20 21

INSIDE BACK COVER

disability program is booming

South Gisborne Tennis Club

The South Gisborne Tennis Club began a campaign in 2001 to seek sponsorship for a group of students from the Sunbury and Macedon Ranges Specialist School to be involved in tennis lessons for a year with our coach. We applied to large businesses in the area and Australia Post expressed interest in our program and sponsored the group for a year.

Since the program started nine years ago it has grown to now have over 100 students participating. We thank Australia Post, the club coach and volunteers for their continued support of the program and these children. The disability program provides a lot of enjoyment and challenges for all the students.

To further develop the opportunities for the children, the club has taken a group to the Wheelchair Tennis Open held at Rod Laver Arena and booked some courts for the students to have a go at wheelchair tennis. We found that this ‘ fun day ’ was enjoyed by all and that the chi ldren learnt that anything is possible and they are not limited by their individual disability.

To increase the disability pathway within the club we also cater for an adult disability group. These individuals come from Distinctive Options in Sunbury and are given the opportunity to access the club every week for tennis lessons

which volunteers provide. In order to provide this opportunity we successfully applied for a VicHealth grant.

To celebrate the success of the adult program, the club took the Distinctive Options group to Australian Open 2009. Not only did we get to watch the tennis, but we had Todd Woodbridge come down and welcome us on the day.

To ensure the long-term sustainability of the program, the club has set up a five-year plan to assist with the funding for wheelchair ramps and better access to our facilities. We hope to expand the program to include people with all disabilities.

Gail Scott - Secretary

extra court to ease the burden

Tally Ho Tennis Club

Founded in 1976, Tally Ho Tennis Club is a hardcourt club situated in Mt Waverley and is currently ranked third in Tennis Victoria’s Top 20 Community Club Program.

The club has always enjoyed a strong membership base, but in recent years the membership has pushed above the 500 mark. With only six courts available, problems regarding court availability were becoming apparent.

In early 2007 the club’s committee decided action had to be taken to improve the situation for its members and the future of the club. Plans commenced to explore options for the construction of additional court(s) on the available council owned land surrounding the club. A feasibility study was also undertaken to consider the upgrading of existing courts to predominantly cushioned acrylic surfaces. While the club would have liked to construct two new courts, limitations with available land area meant only one new court would gain the support of town planning.

Financially, grant support from Monash City Council and possibly the Victorian Government was needed. Monash City Council were involved in discussions from the start and invited to attend important site meetings at the club. Monash City Council was involved from a very early stage as they were able to give the club important advice, guidance and the information required to put together a successful financial proposal.

Strong membership support was also required and gained through Special General Meetings to outline plans, costs and funding options. A comprehensive grant application was then put together under guidance of the Project Manager. At the same time, applications were submitted to Tennis Australia for consideration of a rebate under the National Court Rebate Scheme and a Facility Loan to assist funding the project. In total, the club received approximately $102,000 from state and local governments. Tennis Australia also provided financial support on both the rebate and loan fronts.

Resurfacing of the existing courts (in what would be a combination of Rebound Ace Sports cushioned and non-cushioned products) was the immediate priority and was completed at the end of 2008. Construction of the new court commenced in March 2009 and was completed in June despite some significant technical and logistical challenges along the way.

All of this means that the club can look to the future with confidence knowing its facility will stand up to the high standards expected of a good community tennis club.

The club wishes to thank all of its partners in the project.

John Diprose – President

2322

country week goes from strength to strength

Victorian Country Tennis Association

The Victorian Country Tennis Association’s (VCTA) Country Week tournament runs yearly and is the biggest grasscourt event in the country. The 29th running of the event was held at the Swan Hill Lawn Tennis Club from 8-12 February 2010 with more than 1200 players taking part.

Proudly sponsored by Tankworld, Rebound Ace and St John Ambulance, the five-day round robin event was played on 102 permanent and temporary grasscourts – a sight you have to see to believe!

Teams come from all over Victoria to compete, with many travelling for three or fours to get to the event. Some players even fly in from interstate just to take part! This year we had 197 teams enter teams of four men or four women (a maximum of eight players per team) with a range of varying abilities.

Always of great interest is to see the myriad of matching outfits teams put together and hear the stories behind them. Amongst this year’s collection we had ballerinas and supermums!

For competitors, the week isn’t just about the tennis – it is an opportunity to socialise with friends they haven’t seen for 12 months and make new ones. The social schedule is just as big and important as the playing one! This year’s social calendar started with the traditional welcoming

spit roast on the Sunday before the tournament began and also included a night at the races.

The town of Swan Hill also benefitted greatly, with an estimated $2 million being spent in the town over the week.

Country Week is an event we hold dear to our hearts. Each year it is exciting to see months of planning and hard work come to fruition. It is also a great pleasure to meet new players and catch-up with regulars, all of whom are united by their love for tennis.

Pat Gilchrist and Carol Pearce – Victorian County Tennis Association

werribee goes multicultural

Werribee Central Tennis Club

In partnership with Tennis Victoria, Spirit West Services, Western English Language School ( WELS), VicHealth and our club coach, Mat O’Brien, the Werribee Central Tennis Club delivered a six-week tennis program to WELS Glen Orden, Werribee and Galvin Park campuses in August/September 2009. The program was a huge success, with more than 70 children (many of whom were new to the country) taking part. Most of the children were not very familiar with tennis at the beginning of the program, but as the weeks progressed, so to did their knowledge and skills.

We felt it was important to capitalise on the success of the program and create a link to the club, so we held a Multicultural Day in September 2009. All students, along with the broader multicultural community of Werribee were invited to come along.

Over 70 people attended the Multicultural Day and it was great to see people from many different backgrounds, including Karen, Vietnamese, Somali and Indian enjoying the festivities and activities the day had to offer. The day included mini-tennis, coaching drills, social doubles and a fastest serve competition. Through the mix of different activities, we were able to successfully cater for all ages and abilities.The day was important to help break down

some of the barriers that may prevent newly arrived communities from accessing organised sport such as becoming familiar with a venue, having relevant contacts, knowing what services are offered and knowing what equipment is needed to play.

In addition, some great links were formed between the club and the community with the leader of the Karen community, Nan Shwe Yi, playing a key role in facilitating communication between the community and the club. Nan was able to provide important feedback about what the community wants, giving the club the opportunity to provide flexible program options to cater for the different groups beyond the day.

The Multicultural Day was a huge success for the club, with more than 20 registrations taken from participants interested in further tennis opportunities, along with eight children signing up for coaching lessons. Most importantly, a relationship and strong links have been developed between the Werribee Central Tennis Club and the multicultural community of Werribee. We hope this will provide a foundation for new arrival communities in Werribee to access the sport of tennis.

Paul Fitzgerald - President

24 25

Yaapeet Tennis Club small town with a big heart

Yaapeet Tennis Club is in a remote country town located in the north/west corner of Victoria.

In August 2009 it was decided that the courts needed some attention and a fourth court would be built.

With the football season over, many volunteers were able to generously give up their time to assist in the preparation and concrete laying of the new court. In addition to work being done on the courts, a new clubroom was assembled and new fencing was erected to assist in the upgrading of the club. Many in-kind hours were put in by the volunteers. Farmers and their machinery, builders and their time, people with their spades, brooms, paint brushes and manpower all contributed to the upgrading of the club.

The improvements were funded through the Victorian Government’s Community Facility Funding program and the Federal Government’s Regional and Local Community Infrastructure Program. We also received assistance from Yarriambiack Shire, a dedicated President (whose grant application skills meant enough money was raised for the courts to be top coated with PlexiPave) and William Loud (the company who layed the PlexiPave and travelled all the way from Melbourne to do so).

The project has been very motivational for the town Yaapeet. With only 45 residents, times have been tough over the past 12 years. The building of the new courts, and their finish, demonstrates the community’s desire to move forward and stay

united. As a result, we have drawn players from outside towns such as Rainbow and Hopetoun to bring our membership up to 58. A celebration to mark the opening of the courts was held on 19 December, 2009.

We are proud to be able to offer state-of-the-art courts for our young tennis players to learn and master the game, whilst also providing a sense of fun, family and community cohesion. The whole process has provided effective role models for all ages and the opportunity for everyone to volunteer and be involved.

Jenny Edelsten – Club Member

26 27

BACK COVERBACK COVER

tennis.com.au/vic

For more information contact:Tennis Victoria

Locked Bag 6001Richmond, VIC 3121

T +61 3 8420 8420 F +61 3 8420 8499

E tvreception@tennis.com.au