{"id":43896,"date":"2026-07-01T12:20:45","date_gmt":"2026-07-01T02:20:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.tennis.com.au\/vic\/?p=43896"},"modified":"2026-07-01T12:20:46","modified_gmt":"2026-07-01T02:20:46","slug":"pride-round-pennant-2026","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.tennis.com.au\/vic\/news\/2026\/07\/01\/pride-round-pennant-2026","title":{"rendered":"Pride Round Pennant 2026"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Rounds 6, 7 and 8 of the 2026 Tennis Victoria Pennant season marked the second annual <strong>Pride Rounds<\/strong>, celebrating inclusion and belonging for LGBTQIA+ people across our tennis community.<\/p>\n<p>Now in its second year, Tennis Victoria\u2019s Pennant Pride Rounds continue to grow, building visibility and momentum for inclusion across the competition. The initiative reinforces tennis as a welcoming, safe and inclusive sport for LGBTIQA+ players, volunteers and communities. Pride Rounds are community-led, with clubs embracing pride colours, hosting activations and championing allyship both on and off the court. These rounds help build awareness, spark conversations and strengthen a sense of belonging across the tennis community. Together, participating clubs showcased the power of sport to create environments where everyone feels seen, safe and valued.<\/p>\n<p>Tennis Victoria was proud to support the following clubs in hosting Pride Rounds in 2026:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Eildon Park Tennis Club \u2013 June 13 <strong>(Round 6)<\/strong><\/li>\n<li>East Camberwell Tennis Club -June 27 <strong>(Round 8)<\/strong><\/li>\n<li>East Coburg Tennis Club &#8211; June 27 <strong>(Round 8)<\/strong><\/li>\n<li>Essendon Tennis Club &#8211; June 27 <strong>(Round 8)<\/strong><\/li>\n<li>Royal Park Tennis Club &#8211; June 27 &amp; 28 <strong>(Round 8)<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Clubs were supported with funding of up to $750 through the Serving Pride initiative, delivered in partnership with Pride Cup.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><strong>Pride Round Match Highlights:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>At <strong>Eildon Park Tennis Club<\/strong>, there were multiple teams who got into the Pride themed spirit through their sporting outfits alongside Eildon Park\u2019s commitment in organising a colourful display of food and refreshments. Notable highlights included the Eildon Park Women\u2019s Grade 3 team banking an impressive 6 rubbers to 0 home victory. Whilst in the Men\u2019s Grade 1 fixture, it was Beaumaris Lawn TC who secured an away victory against Eildon Park TC.<\/li>\n<li>At <strong>East Coburg Tennis Club, <\/strong>in the Inaugurable Pride Cup fixture between the Grade 12 East Coburg vs Glencairn, it was the East Coburg Grade 12 team who secured a commanding 6 rubbers to 0 home victory. With the competing players all stashing Pride coloured outfits throughout the day.<\/li>\n<li>At <strong>East Camberwell Tennis Club<\/strong>, in the Men\u2019s Grade 6 fixture it was East Camberwell TC who secured 5 sets to 3 home victory to conclude a fun Pride Round evening.<\/li>\n<li>At<strong> Royal Park Tennis Club,<\/strong> we saw the Men\u2019s Grade 5 secure 6 rubbers to 0 home victory, whilst the Men\u2019s Grade 16 team lost by a narrow 4 rubbers to 2 margin. With the highlight of the day being the four player interviews occurring at Royal Park TC, alongside the Pride cakes also being on display. Click <a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/share\/r\/18p1sworvS\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">here<\/a> to watch some of the highlights from Royal Park Tennis Club.\u00a0<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<div><strong><br \/>Matt Poole<\/strong>, representing the <strong>Grade 5<\/strong> <strong>Royal Park Tennis Club<\/strong> team, said, \u201cTennis isn\u2019t just about what happens on the court, it\u2019s also about the connections made off it. Whether it\u2019s sharing afternoon tea or listening to people\u2019s stories, it\u2019s those moments that make the game truly special.\u201d<\/div>\n<p>All in all, the Pride Rounds were once again a great success, showing that tennis has the power to bring people together not just on court, but also through meaningful acts of inclusion.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><strong>Tennis Victoria Inclusion Lead, Adam Watson<\/strong>, shared: <span data-teams=\"true\">\u201cPride Rounds matter because visibility and education are still needed. Whilst at one of the clubs this weekend I was asked when we would celebrate \u2018Heterosexual Rounds\u2019 and while it may come from a place of not understanding, it highlights exactly why initiatives like this are important. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-teams=\"true\">It\u2019s okay to have a different opinion or to be unsure, but I encourage everyone to take the time to learn, ask questions and seek support. Our actions and words have impact, and together we can create a more respectful, inclusive sport for all.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p>To get in touch with the inclusion team at Tennis Victoria please contact\u00a0<a href=\"mailto:inclusionvic@tennis.com.au\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">inclusionvic@tennis.com.au<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>To learn more about Tennis Victoria\u2019s commitment to increasing opportunities and accessibility for LGBTIQA+ people, click\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.tennis.com.au\/play\/inclusion-and-diversity\/lgbti\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">here<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>The Serving Pride initiative is available year-round for all clubs. To get involved, click <a href=\"https:\/\/www.tennis.com.au\/vic\/files\/2026\/05\/2026-Serving-Pride-Initiative-Information-for-Clubs-Coaches.pdf#_msdynmkt_donottrack=0,_msdynmkt_linkid=5544292f-fa1e-4dc0-b9ae-9e1602c49176\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">here<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>To explore our broader work in inclusion and diversity, click\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.tennis.com.au\/play\/inclusion-and-diversity\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">here.<\/a><\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Tennis Victoria Pennant Inaugural Pride Round at Essendon Tennis Club\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/pUimvknU4V0?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Rounds 6, 7 and 8 of the 2026 Tennis Victoria Pennant season marked the second annual Pride Rounds, celebrating inclusion and belonging for LGBTQIA+ people across our tennis community. Now in its second year, Tennis Victoria\u2019s Pennant Pride Rounds continue to grow, building visibility and momentum for inclusion across the competition. The initiative reinforces tennis [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6423,"featured_media":43899,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-43896","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tennis.com.au\/vic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43896","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tennis.com.au\/vic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tennis.com.au\/vic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tennis.com.au\/vic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6423"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tennis.com.au\/vic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=43896"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.tennis.com.au\/vic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43896\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tennis.com.au\/vic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/43899"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tennis.com.au\/vic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=43896"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tennis.com.au\/vic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=43896"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tennis.com.au\/vic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=43896"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}