28 August 2012 | Tennis Victoria

Sunshine Park Tennis Club (SPTC) has introduced a new program to engage the Burmese community in the Sunshine area into the game of tennis on a regular basis.

Currently, the highly successful program has 20-30 members of the Burmese community playing tennis on a Friday night, thanks to assistance from the Brimbank City Council and Tennis Victoria.

“We were lucky enough to be awarded a grant [from the Brimbank City Council],” said Craig Vaughan, head coach at the SPTC.

“With that grant we were able to provide the Burmese [players] with some memberships, some coaching, which Tennis Victoria assisted us in funding, and also tennis racquets.

“Basically [we] got them down here, they had no idea about tennis and since then we have got them playing, they show up every Friday and it has become a regular occurrence.”

All participants have seen their tennis improve in leaps and bounds since the implementation of the program, with some even joining the local competition for next season.

“It’s so rewarding that the opportunity we have given the community to play our sport has given participants a genuine enjoyment and love for tennis, something they wouldn’t normally have,” said Chris Saliba, Tennis Victoria’s  Community Tennis Officer who oversaw the project.

“Craig Vaughan and Sunshine Park Tennis Club create a great environment for the whole community to be involved in tennis which is great for the sport.

“Everyone involved loves playing tennis. One week they even played in the pouring rain!”

You can watch the program in action below.