20 January 2017 | Tennis Victoria

Over 350 Victorian Tennis volunteers were formally ‘thanked’ for their tireless dedication to the sport at the Tennis Victoria Volunteers’ Breakfast proudly presented by ANZ on Thursday.

Held at the MCG, the breakfast is a chance for dignitaries and Tennis Victoria staff to give back to sport’s hard working volunteers, with guests including the Hon. John Eren, Minister for Tourism and Major Events, Minister for Sport and Minister for Veterans. View the photo album here.

The morning was highlighted by a special guest appearance by 2001 Wimbledon singles champion Goran Ivanisevic before guests were treated to a day at the Australian Open 2017.

St Albans’ Son Nguyen (metro) and Drysdale’s Kerry Humphrey (country) were named the 2017 Victorian Community Champions for their outstanding contribution to growing tennis in their regions.

A few years ago, the St Albans East Tennis Club looked to shut their gates for good, with only 10 members and barely any activity at the facility. However since Mr Nguyen became president the club went from 10 members to an impressive 180 and it is still on the rise.

Mr Nguyen spent many weekends looking for racquets at car boot sales and markets for participants that did not own their own racquet, and used his connections within the Vietnamese Community in St Albans to get the Tennis Club back on the map and ensure Tennis is chosen as sport for life for many of the Vietnamese families and the wider community in St Albans.

Mrs Humphrey registered 120 players to the Drysdale Tennis Club’s ANZ Tennis Hot Shots Community Play program in 2015, which was more than any other regional tennis club in the state. The program is now so well known in Geelong, the club sees juniors coming from far and wide to participate. Mrs Humphrey has also set up partnerships with three local schools through the Sporting Schools Partnership Program and recently delivered a school program that exposed over 400 students to tennis at St. Thomas Primary School.

The club was one of the first regionally to deliver an ANZ Tennis Hot Shots League, which was a great triumph for the club, and the pathway Mrs Humphrey has developed has seen more juniors at the club than ever before.

The morning also saw long serving volunteer Larry McLean presented with a Highly Commended Tennis Service Award for her outstanding contribution to tennis including the Bayside Regional Tennis Association and Tennis Victoria’s Junior Pennant Committee.

Tennis Victoria also took the opportunity to congratulate the community coaches and clubs Marco Persi, Francois Vogelsberger and Brenda Tierney who have supported the 2016 achievements of Victorians Dylan Alcott, Heath Davidson, while Elizabeth Peers, Kooyong Lawn Tennis Club and the Kooyong Foundation were recognised on behalf of John Peers.