22 September 2023 | Tennis West

Members of the Tennis West team travelled east to the Central Wheatbelt last week engaging with tennis clubs, schools, local government, coaches and deliverers. 

The regional trip was aimed at increasing Tennis West’s presence in regional areas to service, support and sustain our sport. 

The Tennis West team delivered school tennis programs to over 780 students across seven primary and high schools, met with the local government, delivered activations to three local tennis clubs for club members and the local community, face to face conversations with affiliated clubs, delivered three marketing workshops with local tennis clubs and conducted one teacher PD upskilling session resulting in eight members/teachers becoming upskilled around the Hotshots delivery.  

Tennis West Schools and Pathways Officer – Central Radu Vaidean highlighted the success of the two week trip and value for visiting the regions.  

“We embarked on the Wheatbelt Regional Schools and Clubs Roadshow because we believe in delivering excellent service, support and ultimately sustainability to our stakeholders.” 

“There is so much talent that we identified during the last two weeks which is why it is so important for us to get out and work with our stakeholders including schools, clubs, local governments to develop and maintain that classroom to clubhouse model.” 

“It’s been an overwhelmingly positive experience, and we can’t wait to be back out again next year,” said Radu. 

Thank you to the Department of Local Government, Sport and Cultural Industries and Lotterywest for their ongoing support of Tennis in Western Australia. 

Summary of the Wheatbelt Roadshow: 

Day 1: 

The team left the State tennis Centre at 7 am and headed to York District High School to run a school Tennis program to five classes and a total of 138 students. The team then lead a PD upskilling session to the staff at York District High School. The day ended with the team running an adult cardio session to locals and club members of York Tennis Club then delivering a marketing workshop with the club looking at ways the club can improve it’s presence in the local community. 

Day 2:  

The team travelled to Beverley to run a school program for Beverley District High School to roughly 100 students. The goal was to ensure that the students receive their first experience of tennis in a school environment, but also empower teachers on what is on offer through the Sporting Schools grants. The team then travelled two hours east to Merredin to deliver an adult cardio club activation with Merredin Districts and Railways Tennis Clubs. The two clubs came together after the cardio session to participate in a marketing workshop.  

Day 3: 

Staying overnight in Merredin the team delivered a schools program to St Mary’s Primary School. While the weather wasn’t the best, we managed to teach a total of 115 students across five classes. 

Day 4: 

The team travelled north and stopped by Nungarin Tennis Club for a ‘Hit’ (Health Indicator Tool) Chat. Hit chat conversation are a series of questions, that help us better understand the club, and will also assist in designing short & long terms plans to improve the healthiness of the venue. 

We then continued onto Wyalkatchem District High School to deliver a school program to four classes ranging from pre-primary to year 10. After school the team facilitated come and try sessions at Wyalkatchem Tennis Club, these sessions saw kids from the local school and nearby communities participate in hot shots coaching lessons. The first session (red ball) targeted at kids aged 4-7, focused on fundamental movement as well as basic tennis skills. The second session (orange and green ball) involved 16 kids aged 8-13 years old incorporating tennis tactics and gameplay. These sessions were the perfect example of the Classroom to Clubhouse model, designed to create a pathway for school kids to their local Tennis clubs where they are able to continue on their tennis journey. The day finished with an adult cardio session and a BBQ afterwards.  

Day 5: 

The last day of the week was spent heading back to Perth stopping off at Cunderdin Tennis Club and Northam Lawn Tennis Club working with the committee to discuss ways on how to utilise and activate their courts through coaching programs, school clinics and court hire. The trip finished with a chat with the local government to recap the journey and discuss any future trips and how we can collaborate to continue building sustainability in the region. 

Day 6-8: 

The next week, the team travelled back out to Northam to deliver the school activations to West Northam Primary, St Josephs Primary and Northam Primary School. The three days saw the team facilitate tennis hot shots activities to over 350 students of all year groups promoting schools to utilise sporting schools funding and teacher resources. With the plan to host an interschools Red Ball Competition in the Wheatbelt in 2024 between all schools.