By Edwin Smith
When Queanbeyan experienced its worst floods in decades at the end of last year, much of the town was declared a natural disaster zone. Countless buildings, homes, shopping centres and sporting venues were affected.
The tennis community experienced some of the worst flooding, with one of the centres going completely underwater.
Barry Lynch, Committee Member told Tennis ACT that the courts were covered by a meter and a half of water and mud.
“Luckily the outside fences stayed… You could see the debris hanging about 1 and a half meters above the fence,” he said.
However, it wasn’t just the courts that were affected, with the clubhouse experiencing some major damage too. Many of the doors still do not function properly, and the lights inside the clubhouse have only just been fixed by a club member, who is an electrician and volunteered to fix the wiring.
“It was a community effort; it was well beyond any working bee we could do,” Lynch said.
One of the biggest problems was the pennant competitions that are played at the complex each week.
“We have had a large number of junior teams, the biggest numbers in years… luckily, Tennis ACT made arrangements to play at different courts,” Lynch said.
Thanks to a government grant, countless hours of volunteer work from the community and committee members, plus assistance from Tennis ACT, the Queanbeyan Tennis Club now has all courts back up and running.
A successful Open Day on Sunday 17th April had members from the club coming down to play some social Tennis on newly laid courts and enjoying a BBQ. The courts were then officially opened by the Mayor who is soon to become the clubs newest member.
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