5 November 2015 | Tennis Queensland

Longreach hosted a successful Tennis Australia Community Coaching Course from the 27^th – 29^th July 2015, with 8 participants from towns all over the West Region including Barcaldine, Longreach, Mt Isa and Winton learning valuable skills to begin their coaching careers.

During the Community Coaching Course, participants learnt to develop the skills of junior tennis players through the delivery of the ANZ Hot Shots program. The course aims to develop the participants ability to deliver coaching sessions using modified balls, racquets, nets and courts appropriate to the development needs of junior players with the emphasis on a creative, positive learning environment for children. This course covered Tennis Australia technical and tactical fundamentals, legal and ethical responsibilities of a coach, coaching methodology, risk management and program planning. The 3-day course was modified to accommodate the unique challenges that regional coaches face – time and distance.

With the past and current struggles the West Region faces in securing full-time club tennis coaches, the focus of the course was to give the local community the opportunity to “home-grow” their very own coaches.

The course was a wonderful opportunity to grow tennis in the West Region of Queensland and now brings hope to the regions players and clubs to keep the sport alive in the local community.