Sunshine Park Tennis Club (SPTC) has introduced a new program to engage the Burmese community in the Sunshine area into the game of tennis on a regular basis.<\/p>\n
Currently, the highly successful program has 20-30 members of the Burmese community playing tennis on a Friday night, thanks to assistance from the Brimbank City Council and Tennis Victoria.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe were lucky enough to be awarded a grant [from the Brimbank City Council],\u201d said Craig Vaughan, head coach at the SPTC.<\/p>\n
\u201cWith that grant we were able to provide the Burmese [players] with some memberships, some coaching, which Tennis Victoria assisted us in funding, and also tennis racquets.<\/p>\n
\u201cBasically [we] got them down here, they had no idea about tennis and since then we have got them playing, they show up every Friday and it has become a regular occurrence.\u201d<\/p>\n
All participants have seen their tennis improve in leaps and bounds since the implementation of the program, with some even joining the local competition for next season.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s so rewarding that the opportunity we have given the community to play our sport has given participants a genuine enjoyment and love for tennis, something they wouldn\u2019t normally have,\u201d said Chris Saliba, Tennis Victoria\u2019s\u00a0 Community Tennis Officer who oversaw the project.<\/p>\n
\u201cCraig Vaughan and Sunshine Park Tennis Club create a great environment for the whole community to be involved in tennis which is great for the sport.<\/p>\n
\u201cEveryone involved loves playing tennis. One week they even played in the pouring rain!\u201d<\/p>\n
You can watch the program in action below.<\/p>\n