22 December 2014 | Tennis West

Congratulations to Applecross Tennis Club, who were recently named the WA Winners of the much coveted Ultimate Club Challenge Competition, taking home tennis goods or services to the value of $5000!

This prize money can be spent on initiatives or items such as:

• Tennis equipment which can be used by club members and guests
• Coaching sessions delivered by a Tennis Australia qualified coach at your club
• Funds towards the repair, upgrade or maintenance of your club tennis facilities

Applecross Tennis Club thought outside the box when it came to the challenge, by hosting their event at the Jacaranda Festival, a community event not normally associated with sporting clubs. However the club were able to persuade the Rotary chapter to experiment with their involvement and they received very positive feedback such that Rotary is intending to promote more sporting clubs at this event in the future.

Despite the confined space of a market stall, by clever use of Hot Shot equipment, they were still able to create a competitive tennis environment and community outreach booth. Families were attracted to the site as a result of club juniors rallying over the net and spectators were encouraged to participate by the use of the two lucky dips (child and adult) as incentive to pick up a racquet. The child lucky dip was comprised of items from the Ultimate Club Challenge kit and the adult lucky dip prizes were free social tennis vouchers with a club buddy.

Throughout the day, many junior members took part in a playing roster to ensure continuous, quality tennis in the Hot Shots arena. The  club coach was also involved and sponsored this activity. Club members spruiked the event during the festival by handing out flyers and connecting with the crowd. An innovative buddy system was employed to ensure connections made during the event flowed through to further involvement at the club.

The club also devised a novel method for attracting interested parties from the event down to the club. This entailed providing prospective new players with a tennis ball, around which a voucher for free social play was wrapped. This voucher also included details (photo and first name) of an existing club member whom the stall operators identified as a good match for the prospective new member. This idea created a frisson of excitement akin to a semi-blind date.

The club offered special membership deals and free tennis try-outs at the club over the pre-Christmas period. Because this event was held off site, the initiative complemented existing club arrangements to attract new members at the beginning of the summer season. Additionally, they established a QR-code delivering our club’s online presence to the visitors of the Club Tennis Day.

Congratulations to Applecross Tennis Club for running such a unique, well organised and successful event!

Very worthy winners of the Ultimate Club Challenge Competition!