WHILE tickets to this year’s Australian Open went on sale this week, it’s the start of the Saturday pennant season Saturday afternoon that has most local tennis fans talking.
Saturday will herald the opening of another big summer of tennis for the Swan Hill Lawn Tennis & Croquet Club (SHLT&CC) as the club once again prepares to host several tournaments on top of the domestic competition.
On the back of last year’s successful summer, which saw the SHLT&CC host the Australian seniors’ teams carnival and championships and two weeks of the Australian Pro Tour, the club will host the Victorian State Junior Grass Court Championships.
Following the state championships, the club’s attention will then turn to hosting another week of the Australian Pro Tour, an event that saw Yafan Wang set the groundwork for a first-round victory in this year’s US Open over world number seven Caroline Garcia in September.
With the weather warming up and summer just around the corner it’s the perfect time to dust off the racquet and have a hit, according to SHLT&CC president Christian Devlin, as the club encourages everyone to make the most of having a world-class facility on our own doorstep.
“It’s great to see some nets up and some line marking being done and the grass turning to a nice dark green,” Devlin told The Guardian this week.
“I think everyone has had a bit of a break after their winter sports and they’re starting to come out of the woodwork.
“While our playing numbers are okay we can certainly cater for a lot more.
“We have a reduced junior membership this season: it’s just $30 for the year and they don’t pay any ball fees or court hire and they’ll also get some free coaching for the month of October.”
While the teams for the weekend pennant competition have already been decided this week, for those wanting to play it’s not too late to get involved as the club is always on the lookout for new players and members.
As well as the weekend pennant season, the SHLT&CC caters for players of all ages and abilities, with a Saturday morning tennis competition and Wednesday afternoon Hot Shots program for the juniors, a Wednesday twilight competition, Thursday women’s pennant and Thursday twilight social competition for casual participants.
With courts that were acknowledged by the organisers of the Australian Pro Tour as the finest grass courts in Australia, it is little surprise to see the club rewarded with another week of high-level tennis.
While the economic benefit of hosting is well known, with the Tennis Victoria Country Week competition valued at having brought more than $2 million to the local economy over the past 40 years, it also gives budding local tennis stars the opportunity to get up close and personal with national- and international-standard players such as Luke Saville, Priscilla Hon, Olivia Gadecki and Wang.
While this year shapes as another big year for the SHLT&CC, it won’t be the end of the club’s hosting responsibilities, with big plans a foot for future hosting opportunities, according to Devlin.
“We’re hosting the state championships for the juniors this year but next year we’ll be hosting the national event, which we’ve never hosted before,” he said.
“We have the Pro Tour coming for the second year and hopefully we’ll have Country Week a year after that (in 2025).
“Our calendar is starting to fill in really nicely.
“We’ve had meetings with Tennis Victoria and Tennis Australia and they’re trying to give us a few events and give us some certainty around when and what events we’ll be hosting.
“These events take a lot of work and they’re a lot of work for our volunteers and on our facilities, but thankfully we’ve got the best greenskeeper in country.
“We’re constantly getting feedback that we have the greatest courts in the country and we’re even being talked about internationally now too, and that’s a huge feather in our greenskeeper Danny’s (Gardner) cap.”
2023-24 Saturday pennant teams
Beveridge
Harry Simpson/Adam Laughlin
Caleb Beggs
Colin Free
Sophie Gleeson
Sam Laughlin
Graeme McFarlane
Bailey Bowd
McCrae
Craig Bath
Brady Bath
Andrew Sartori
Terry Dewhurst
Daniel Mitchell
Sarah Dilges
Austin Paroissien
Campbell
Daniel Gardner
Craig Roberts
Lily Bath
Billy Delmenico
Monte Hare
Tyson Zucco
Amy Van Liessum
Gray
Keith Meagher
Pat Storer
Alan Thompson
Sean Galagher
Cameron Tofful
Jacky Storer
Eloise Storer
Splatt
John Wardle
Christian Devlin
Mark Storer
Mark Bowd
Clancy Devlin
Glenn Hewitt/Neil Sellick
Brittany Bickford
Curlewis
Joseph Omo
Luke Rodgers
Brad Nolan
Sophie Sartori
John Brookshaw
Harrison Bowd
Rachel Evans
McCallum
Richard Wardle
Brett Pekin/Eddie Keane
Brayden Ottrey
Tye Griffiths
Pat Conlan
Emily Pekin
Oshan
