Burnie TAS 7320, Australia, 24 September 2018 | Tennis Tasmania

Lindisfarne Memorial Tennis Club is celebrating after winning the 2018 Tasmanian Tennis Award for Most Outstanding Club.

“To win this award is amazing for our club, it is recognition for all the hard work done by everyone involved,” club president Grant Fagan said.

> Tasmanian Tennis Award winners announced

The Hobart-based club has enjoyed a remarkable revival in the past five years, with member numbers more than doubling.

The club now boasts an active member base of 178, with 80 per cent regularly playing, and a stronger junior program led by the Hobart Tennis Academy’s John Playle. The club has produced many state representatives since Playle became the club professional coach four years ago, including Jess Fowler who was named the Female Junior Athlete of the Year at the Tasmanian Tennis Awards (pictured below right, with Fagan and Casey Dellacqua).

Fagan, who paid credit to former president Peter Hobday for leading their club’s growth when accepting the award, believes there a number of factors that have helped boost member numbers.

“We’ve tried to engage our members, encourage social tennis and a new club coach has made a massive difference. There has been lots of different things we’ve done – and all that connected has made it a success,” he said.

Embracing change has also helped the club grow.

Three synthetic grass courts were replaced with a Plexicushion surface three years ago – an upgrade that has helped attract new members and seen their facilities used by international athletes for practice during the annual Hobart International tournament.

“That’s made a massive difference – people want to play on courts just like at the Australian Open,” Fagan said.

The club also became the first in the state to introduce Book a Court technology, an innovative online booking platform that makes court hire of the club’s five courts more accessible. Within eight weeks of installing the system in May, the club had surpassed their annual income from the previous year.

“It has been really successful so far – and that’s been through the winter time,” Fagan said.

READ MORE: Lindisfarne’s Book a Court success

While thrilled their club’s hard work was recognised at the state awards, Fagan is adamant the club’s focus on creating an inviting and social environment to encourage participation would continue.

“We have to keep working on that, because if we drop off, it will go back to how it was,” he said.