CLUBS OF THE QUARTER
Pekina Tennis Club was established in 1905 and has played an important role in the sport and recreation activities of the close-knit farming community of Pekina. Tennis was played on dirt courts at the South end of the Pekina Recreation Grounds, with both Junior and Senior teams celebrating many years of Premierships throughout the history of the club. The most notable years were between 1961 to 1975 with the senior teams winning a total of 11 shields. Pekina went on to play in multiple Grand Finals and recently joined the Southern Flinders Tennis Association in 2010 and the club has since celebrated a further five shields between 2014 and 2017.
The Pekina community continues to support the upgrades of the tennis courts and surrounding infrastructure. They have shown success through the Grant applications which contributed to the upgrades of the joint sporting/community club house. These improvements included accessible toilets, installing air conditioning, replacing the kitchen and bar surfaces and purchasing new fridges and freezers. The most notable upgrade to the tennis infrastructure was the court surface. The Committee has worked hard to build the Pekina Tennis Club and has plans to continue to resurface all three of the courts and install environmentally friendly LED lighting.
Throughout the year the club continues to explore fundraising initiatives to put towards helping the upgrades of the courts. The Pekina Community has been working collaboratively on a strategic plan which identifies the importance of tennis and sport within the community, this is a goal the club is working to achieve.
The club is continuing to work through building the skills of the younger players through the Junior development program. They have been successful in securing a a uniform grant and providing new uniforms for the younger players. Pekina have also signed up for Club Spark and have continued the Hot Shots program. The club are heading in the right direction to keep tennis going strong in the future.
The Pekina Tennis Club are continuing to provide a family friendly environment and are encouraging the entire community to give tennis a try.
Congratulations Pekina Tennis Club!
West Lakes Tennis Club have wrapped up another successful Rafa Nadal Tour with 150 entrants this year as well as running the Values Sessions as part of the tour. The club have made the switch to the Igloo home for all casual court hire booking, taking the club into a positive direction with the aim to increase the number of people wanting to book a court and allows for a more user friendly experience. They have appointed a new Head Coach in Heiner Wirtz-Fielding in April, he has become a integral part of the team, creating more structure and separating the different levels for the competition. He has also attracted some new talent to the club. The club has also transitioned into using Club Spark and will continue to use this and build their social media presence throughout the year.
The competitions have shown a positive increase in both winter and summer competitions, compared to previous season across both Junior and Senior competitions. In addition, the marquee Metro 3 Men won the premiership taking the club to four premiership teams and two runner-ups. Their Senior men’s competition picked up with a total of six teams, three women’s and six junior teams. They are working towards increasing the number of women’s teams within their competitions. One of the main areas of focus for West Lakes is to increase the participation and inclusivity, the committee is leading the way with majority of women on the committee and Matthew being a part of the LGBTIQA+ community.
There have been upgrades within the club including the installation of inclusive accessible bathrooms with additional space as well as the installation of a new ramp upon entry into the Northern part of the club. This was done through the contribution of the City of Charles Sturt which was overseen and communicated by the club.
In December 2022, they ran a fundraiser for the Hutt Street Centre which raised over $1,000 along with other donations. The volunteering has been well supported through Tania and Matt both taking time off work to ensure all the tournaments are ran smoothly and helping out where possible. Within the past year, West Lakes have been the member club of the Special Olympics SA and ran an open day for the group which targets players with an intellectual disability.
Congratulations West Lakes Tennis Club!
VOLUNTEERS OF THE MONTH
Cameron and Ruby Foulis are the brother and sister duo and dedicated volunteers who represent both Pekina Tennis Club and Port Augusta Tennis Association. Their involvement with Pekina tennis club goes back to when they were children, with their grandparents building the existing infrastructure of the club. Cameron and Ruby both hold lead positions on the club’s committee with their focus to engage the local and broader community into the club and to create a fun and welcoming playing environment. As for their involvement with Port Augusta Tennis Association, Ruby and Cameron have been involved in their social competitions for several years and have recently signed up to the be the club’s Community Play coordinators.
As the club is located in a rural town, both Cameron and Ruby have taken on multiple roles including drinks manager, engagement officers, team selectors, Captains, President and Vice Secretary roles. Their key achievements have been regularly recruiting players from outside the association to compete in their senior teams, introducing a mixed doubles to increase socialisation between opposing clubs, reinvigorating the club after having a year off due to Covid, by engaging new and previous players to return to the club and bringing back the town sports mascot of the Galah and implementing into their team apparel to keep the history of the town in the present.
Together, their favourite aspect of volunteering is predominantly continuing the tradition of country tennis, which holds a special place in their hearts, due to their grandparent’s involvement when the club was founded. Pekina tennis club in particular holds special memories and stories which can now be passed down to future generations.
Ruby and Cameron like to see the positive impacts that tennis has on player’s mental health, especially in the regional town, as it promotes a community bond. They both believe that volunteering strengthens your ties to the community and broadens your network. In turn this brings joy and purpose to your life and those around you.
Congratulations Cameron and Ruby!
Liz Hearn is the secretary of Marion Tennis Club and has been involved with the club since 2020, she decided to join the committee after noticing the sign from Justin Tredwell. Not only did she decide to give the committee a go she was also took on the Ladies Team Captaincy at the same time. For this upcoming season Liz will become the first Captain of the Mixed team making their debut this year.
Liz has taken on many roles at the club, including the transition to Club Spark through Tennis Australia, taking on memberships/payments, managing correspondence, applying for grants and social media. She is also instrumental in setting up the Igloohome for casual court hire earlier in the year.
The Women Leaders in Tennis program commenced in May, Liz was involved in this leadership program which was run in conjunction with Tennis Australia that she’s relished and enjoyed all the networking opportunities provided by the course. She found this to be an incredible learning experience and has applied her learnings to her role at the club. Liz’s outstanding efforts have not gone unnoticed in the past year, as she was a finalist in the Volunteer Achievement Category – City/Hills at the Tennis SA Gala Dinner in April.
The aspect of volunteering that Liz enjoys is the sense of fulfillment that you have achieved something and the community involvement which allows her to build networks and friendships. She also enjoyed her involvement at the Adelaide International this year where she assisted in the Player Services area, which involved assisting in all pre and post-match enquires.
Liz loves making a difference and bringing a smile to everyone’s faces around the club, “the door is always open to come and chat as the club would love to have more volunteers on board. There are plenty of things to do around the Club and each week someone has to wear a different hat relative to getting the job done.”
Congratulations Liz!
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