Aref Ahmadi is now a coach at Grange Lawn Tennis Club’s Advantage Refugees Program, which uses tennis as a way to engage with young refugees in the community. While Ahmadi was the club’s first refugee player, the program, which won a Recreation and Sport Industry Award for Building Communities in 2010, now has refugee participants from all over the world.

Grange Lawn Tennis Club (GLTC) has successfully run a Tennis Bridging program that has targeted Refugee and Cultural and Linguistically Diverse (CALD) youth since 2008. The program has sought to provide the target group with the best opportunity to partake in basic tennis lessons, to then progress to mainstream coaching and finally play in junior and/or senior competition tennis.

The program includes:

• basic tennis skills sessions for CALD youth held at Grange Lawn Tennis Club. Family members of participants (parents and siblings) are encouraged to join in tennis activities during the program
• development squad training sessions (held outside of basic skills sessions) for up to eight basic skill session participants. These sessions are intended to be a precursor to and for selection of scholarship candidates
• scholarships for up to four participants (or more if suitable candidates and available funds) covering weekly coaching sessions, club junior membership and participation in Western District Tennis Assoc summer and/or winter competition

The young people who benefit from this program have come from a number of different cultures including: Afghanistan, Burma, Bhutan, Congo, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Liberia, Iran, Sierra Leone and Sudan.

The tennis sessions have increased the young people’s awareness of the benefits of sport and recreation, including the key role it plays in settlement outcomes is significantly increased. Young people were also able to strengthen their links with their own community as well as the broader Australian community.

Grange Lawn Tennis Club would like to invite young people aged 5 – 25 from diverse cultures to come to our club for FREE tennis coaching and multicultural tennis tournament.

> See flyer for October & November sessions

Contact Egon Loh, Tennis SA Participation Leader for more information.

Ph 08 7224 8111 or email [email protected]