2 November 2017 | Tennis NSW

A great first week in the job! I have been all over the place this week visiting over 35 clubs, from Grafton all the way to Wagga Wagga and have travelled approximately 3,746km. So, you could say that I have been a busy bear!

I have learnt a lot and have enjoyed getting to know all the tennis clubs and meeting with my tennis family. There is a lot more to running a Tennis Club and coaching than I initially thought. Some of the clubs staff have been there for over 50 years, so it was interesting hearing how the #stateofplay has changed over the years and some of the stories that they have.

Here are some of the fun facts that I have learnt:

• One club I visited sold cows to pay for the resurfacing of their tennis courts. (not too sure if they were pulling my paw on this one)
• Each club has one or two Club Champions, who volunteer their time to help the club survive. One tennis club targeted TAFE students to help volunteer at the club, which in time will be doing future presentations to grow this relationship and get more volunteers.
• Working bees were very popular. A few clubs would have designated days each year where they will get a large amount of volunteers to help with the maintenance and presentation of the facility. A great way to build club environment and keep costs down!
• I also met Ryan Henry, Director of Voyager Tennis Academy, who won the 2002 Australian Open Boys’ Doubles title and came runners up for the Boys’ Doubles in the French Open 2002.
• Karuah Tennis Club has the Karuah Dummy. This is given to the player who has the biggest dummy spit of the year!

I will be on the road again this week, learning more about the #stateofplay. Don’t forget to keep up to date with my journey on Instagram @ace_the_koala.