Golden Grove (City/Hills) and Two Wells (Rural) have been announced as South Australia’s Most Outstanding Tennis Clubs in 2017.
The awards were presented at the Tennis SA awards dinner, held at the Adelaide Convention Centre, in front of 300 attendees.
This award caps off a fantastic year for Golden Grove Tennis Club with over 200 members playing tennis year-round. The committee has proven that they are a great team, with a wonderful family and community culture who organised a Beyond Blue 24-hour charity event and raised in excess of $14,000 in late 2016.
“We are very honoured, we have put a lot of effort in this year,” said Golden Grove Tennis Club President and Head Coach Craig Mousley.
“Our committee put a lot of time in to the charity event, but it’s not just that event. We are always trying to improve our membership base and we are very focussed on that area. The committee plays a very big part and we are very appreciative.”
For Two Wells, a new invigorated committee harnessing hard work and dedication has seen the club attract new junior players and qualified coaching staff, re-establishing itself in the community. At the start of 2016, Two Wells won the AO Blitz when Angelique Kerber defeated Serena Williams in the women’s singles final at Melbourne Park last year. The community won a town party and the opportunity to host the prestigious Australian Open trophies.
“It feels fantastic to win this award. We’ve gone from strength-to-strength over the last few years,” said Two Wells Tennis Club Junior Coordinator Marie Tapscott.
“Winning the AO Blitz town of the year, we created an event around that and it has brought such amazing publicity to our club. It has increased our numbers and growth of juniors, and it’s also brought about a lot of vibrancy in our committee and the families involved.”
Littlehampton, Reade Park Lawn, Rostrevor, Somerton Park and West Lakes were contenders for the City/Hills accolade, whilst Naracoorte was a finalist in the rural category.
The Tennis SA awards dinner celebrates players, coaches, clubs, communities, volunteers and officials for their service to the sport in South Australia.
A highlight for the evening was the presentation of life memberships to Chris Altman and Bill Cossey AM. Both held in the highest regard by the SA tennis community, Mr Altman has been at the forefront of tennis leadership over several decades, from club to association to state level. Mr Cossey was the Tennis SA president and member representative to Tennis Australia for close to 12 years.
Mislav Bosnjak (Cumberland Park, SA) and Selina Turulja (Pennington, SA) were awarded South Australia’s most prestigious player awards, the Burr and Boyce Awards. Petra Hule (Pennington, SA) took the Gwen Thiele Memorial Trophy for most outstanding 18-and-under female, while Bosnjak also won the Don Turnbull Memorial Trophy.
Sam von Einem (Glengowrie, SA) was awarded the Most Outstanding Player with a Disability following his outstanding run at the 2017 Australian Tennis Championships, defeating the world No.1, world No.2 and Australian No.1 before winning the singles title.
Sam Wall (Aberfoyle Park, SA) took the Coaching Excellence – Talent Development award for the second year running, Helen Rice (Belair, SA) became a three-time winner of the Coaching Excellence – Club award and Prince Alfred College (Kent Town, SA) was named the Most Outstanding School.
“The Tennis SA awards dinner was a fitting celebration of the outstanding achievements of our players, coaches, clubs, communities, volunteers and officials,” said Tennis SA CEO Steven Baldas.
“A heartfelt congratulations to all of our award winners and finalists for their tireless work and efforts in our sport.”
The full list of award winners is as follows:
Boyce Award (best and fairest female tennis player)
Selina Turulja (Pennington, SA)
Burr Award (best and fairest male tennis player)
Mislav Bosnjak (Cumberland Park, SA)
Gwen Thiele Memorial Trophy (best female 18-and-under tennis player)
Petra Hule (Pennington, SA)
Don Turnbull Memorial Trophy (best male 18-and-under tennis player)
Mislav Bosnjak (Cumberland Park, SA)
Most Outstanding Player with a Disability
Sam von Einem (Glengowrie, SA)
Most Outstanding 35+ Tennis Senior
Ron Russo (Adelaide, SA)
Excellence in Officiating
Jackie Anspach (Glenalta, SA)
Most Outstanding Tennis Club – City/Hills
Golden Grove Tennis Club
Most Outstanding Tennis Club – Rural
Two Wells Tennis Club
Volunteer Achievement Award – City/Hills
Sue Hutson (Littlehampton, SA)
Volunteer Achievement Award – Rural
Sonya Jensen (Normanville, SA)
Coaching Excellence – Talent Development
Sam Wall (Aberfoyle Park, SA)
Coaching Excellence – Club
Helen Rice (Belair, SA)
Most Outstanding School
Prince Alfred College (Kent Town, SA)
Most Outstanding Inclusion Program
Refugee Tennis Bridging Program (Grange Lawn Tennis Club)
Most Outstanding Major Tournament or Competition
2017 Tennis Seniors Australian Championships (Tennis Seniors South Australia)
Most Outstanding Australian Ranking Tournament
2017 Fed Cup Foundation Bronze Womens AMT/Girls JT (Henley South Tennis Club and Tennis SA)
Latest
SA