20 June 2011 | Tennis Victoria

Tennis Victoria has been given a major boost thanks to a $540,000 VicHealth grant which will be used to help make the sport more attractive to culturally diverse communities.

As one of the 30 VicHealth State Sporting Association Participation Program grant recipients in Victoria, Tennis Victoria will implement state-wide initiatives designed to bring about sustainable organisational and cultural change to boost community participation in sport over the next three years.

“Tennis Victoria was thrilled to stand alongside the Minister for Health David Davis and the Minister for Sport and Recreation Hugh Delahunty to assist in launching the VicHealth grants for 2011-2014 at Royal Park Tennis Club yesterday,” said Matthew Kennedy, Tennis Victoria’s Executive Director.

“The funding to be received from VicHealth will go a long way to ensuring that more people of all ages from culturally diverse communities have easy access to welcoming tennis environments.”

“Over the past three years we have worked hard to establish programs and partnerships that promote active participation in tennis by culturally diverse communities, especially new arrivals, in the areas of Sunshine and Dandenong and we really look forward to now being able to expand our sustainable initiatives to new areas.”

VicHealth’s Acting CEO, Associate Professor John Fitzgerald, said State Sporting Associations play an essential role in encouraging people to get active for general good health and chronic illness prevention.

“With obesity and Type 2 diabetes on the rise, it’s very concerning that two-thirds of Australians don’t get enough physical activity. That’s why State Sporting Associations do the community an invaluable service by promoting an active lifestyle, not to mention the mental health benefits their members get from fun and friendship. We are thrilled tennis has taken the initiative to build on this great work by inviting more culturally diverse communities to get involved.

“Tennis is leading by example with their commitment to become more inclusive of the whole community and committing to being a safe, accessible, inclusive and equitable place.”

Research shows that people from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds are much less likely to participate in sports than people born in Australia. In fact, compared to one in three people born in Australia who regularly play sports, only one in 10 people born in non English-speaking countries take part.

“As part of the last round of VicHealth funding, Tennis Victoria produced a ‘welcome to tennis booklet’ in 14 languages. This booklet has been very successful in helping to break down the barriers to participation from culturally diverse communities,” said Kennedy.

In children, the gap is also large. One in two children from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds do not take part in group sports, compared to only one in four children born in Australia. 

This may be because of limited information about the sports, lack of money for uniforms and fees, seeing sport as a low priority with all the pressures of settling in, lack of transport to and from practice and games and sadly, discrimination and racism. More work needs to be done to ensure children and adults from all backgrounds are actively encouraged to play and feel safe and welcome in their chosen sport.

As well as tennis, six other Victorian State Sporting Associations have received grants to make this happen.

To find out more about how tennis is becoming safer, accessible, inclusive and equitable, visit tennis.com.au/vic/play-tennis/getting-started/multicultural-program or call (03) 8420 8420.

For more information on making sports safer, accessible, inclusive and equitable, visit http://www.vichealth.vic.gov.au/Programs-and-Projects/Physical-Activity.aspx