24 November 2022 | Tennis Victoria

Tennis Victoria’s purpose is to create safe, inclusive and thriving Victorian tennis communities, enabling more people to play more often.

Environmental sustainability is a key pillar of Tennis Victoria’s 2024 Strategy, focusing heavily on the need to reduce carbon emissions.

The Victorian Government has a target to reduce the state’s emissions by 45-50% by 2030; towards net-zero emissions by 2050.

Under the Government’s Energy Pledge, 50% of Victoria’s electricity will come from renewable sources by 2030.

In this very important Election year for Victorians, Tennis Victoria has taken a bipartisan approach to propose our Green Light on Victorian tennis strategy.

Australia will experience ongoing changes to its climate, with projections for continued increase in air temperatures and more extreme heat.

Growing instances of these hot days will expose both professional and community tennis participants, and spectators, to increased risk of heat-related illnesses.

Summer daytime events will increasingly have to be rescheduled to the evening – resulting in more demand for sports lighting.

Most local tennis clubs use outdated, emissions-intensive court lighting, and very few have adopted solar or battery infrastructure.

For nearly 80% of tennis clubs, energy presents a major burden for the future.

Therefore, Tennis Victoria has been seeking Government support to facilitate the 1400 existing non-LED courts to be upgraded to LED lighting. This is a $20million investment and we are pleased that the Liberal party, led by Matthew Guy, have committed to this support if they are elected on Saturday 26 November.

We have had positive conversations with the Labor party in the hope that they also support this important initiative for Victorian tennis and environmental sustainability in the future.