LOCAL TENNIS with Donna Schoenmaekers
With all tennis in hiatus this week, due to the King’s Birthday long weekend, it seems a good time to take a look at what is happening in the background at a couple of clubs.
Western Heights Uniting Tennis Club (WHUTC) was founded in the 1920s and moved to its current location, with four courts in 1963.
Like most clubs, WHUTC has had ebbs and flows with participation, but with the current committee and their commitment to growing their club, they are currently on the increase with around 100 members playing socially and in 14 teams across Tennis Geelong’s Junior, Senior, Midweek, Monday Women’s and Thursday Triples competitions.
Despite not having purpose-built lights, WHUTC has had teams enter Tennis Geelong’s night pennants, without the need to join other clubs, which has aided in retention.
Jayde Kelly and Aced Tennis Academy are innovative in their offerings in the coaching space, with numbers increasing, with an array of offerings with their Friday night program and Sunday development squad as highlights.
The club has looked beyond just their own doors becoming involved in running Tennis Australia endorsed junior tournaments in each school holiday break, with popularity increasing with each event, with 55 registered at the summer event. This was the brainchild of a Tennis Victoria Future Leader, who after participating in the program designed for developing keen teens to make a positive change at their clubs, saw an opportunity to provide another option for play for juniors in Geelong.
This family-oriented club is looking ahead, with plans being developed for improvements to facilities and light installations to ensure a bright future.
Moolap Tennis Club is also looking to the future while enjoying the present. After opening their courts to other clubs in the first seasons of Thursday triples, the club is now having to source other courts to allow for the expansion of their own interest in this competition. The same is now happening in the Tennis Geelong Senior competition as well, as interest all through the club is increasing.
Moolap are not just about tennis, they are a social group who don’t take themselves too seriously. The ‘Gossip Goat’ is always an entertaining read on Facebook and social functions abound with Bogan Bingo and Wine Bus Tour in the works over the next few months, and Footy Colours Day in Round 13 where the club and its opponents on the day are encouraged to dress in their team colours, before, during or after the match.
The club has recently developed a Strategic Plan which will help guide them into the future and will be officially delivered next week. The plan was set in motion before being completely
set down on paper, with new lights on two of their courts being installed earlier this year and recently the hiring of coach Adam Lasky to begin the rebuilding of a junior member base.
