Tennis Clubs across WA have experienced unprecedented growth in court bookings, with comparative data showing growth of more than 140% across the 21 West Australian Book-a-Court venues for the month of May.
Data obtained from Tennis Australia’s online court booking system provided evidence of significant growth from casual users and members alike, with WA clubs recording a total of 4118 court bookings throughout WA’s COVID-19 restrictions, highlighting the sport’s unique physical distancing benefits which favoured it’s continuation throughout most of the State’s mandated restrictions.
Compared with data collected from the same period last year, Higgins Park TC (East Victoria Park) was one of the State’s standout clubs, experiencing a 671% increase in the total number of court bookings (members and non-members).
Higgins Park TC Club President, Tom Leeming said that the club was determined to service the wider community to the best of its ability throughout the COVID-19 restrictions.
‘The club’s main focus was to remain as accessible as possible, whilst adhering to all necessary restrictions and guidelines,’
‘Being able to offer the community an outlet for physically exercise that also met the requirements for physical and social distancing was welcomed positively by the community who were looking to remain active during isolation,’
‘The increase of over 670% court hire was definitely a COVID thing. We had people accessing our courts who wouldn’t usually do so which proved to be incredibly beneficial to us,’
‘By remaining open under the tightest of guidelines and protocols, the benefit to the club not only came in significant court booking growth but also in the number of new people who came to the club,’
‘Throughout this period we were able to showcase our venue which includes our latest court resurfacing project, which will see the club operating with four additional LED lit hard courts,’ Leeming said.
As one of WA’s newest Book-a-Court venues, Blue Gum TC (Brentwood) recorded the highest number of court bookings during the month of May with a total of 540 bookings made from both casual users and existing club members.
Blue Gum TC Club President Colin Lorrimar says the ability for people to book online provided the biggest benefit to the club, it’s members and the wider community given the ability for bookings to be secured and guaranteed ahead of arriving at the club.
‘Book-a-Court has quickly become the go to place for members and non-members alike, who seem to really enjoy the benefits and convenience of booking online,’
‘The system has removed a number of barriers and the benefit has been enjoyed by all court users,
‘Book-a-Court has been a big part of seeing people get back out on court sooner throughout the State’s COVID-19 restrictions,’ Lorrimar said.
Tennis West CEO Michael Roberts says the increase is court bookings during such uncertain times are a sure sign that tennis is alive and well across the WA community.
‘We’ve always known that tennis is a unique sport – it can be played by anyone no matter their age or ability – and now, during the pandemic, we’ve seen more people enjoying social tennis as a means to remain physically active and connected,’
‘The increase in bookings we’ve seen across the state are not accidental. Safety has been the most important factor as clubs have made their return to the courts,’
‘It’s great to see our clubs and tennis venues benefiting as a result of their efforts in ensuring the sports safe return,’ Roberts said.
WA’s increase of 4118 court bookings contributes to the National data of 32,234 bookings and 106% increase made across Australia during the month of May.
The table below shows the total number of bookings made using the Book a Court system during May 2020 alongside the percentage increase in bookings from May 2019 compared to May 2020.
| State/Territory | Book-a-Court Venues | Bookings | Percentage increase |
| ACT | 22 | 3249 | 75.15% |
| NSW | 35 | 8129 | 230.69% |
| NT | 3 | 181 | 254.55% |
| QLD | 28 | 2932 | 165.93% |
| SA | 9 | 6 | 144.44% |
| TAS | 9 | 167 | 179.41% |
| VIC | 108 | 13202 | 59.29% |
| WA | 21 | 4118 | 141.63% |
| Total | 235 | 32234 | 106.83% |
For all of the latest information and resources about playing tennis safely please visit: https://www.tennis.com.au/wa/news-and-events/news/covid-19-updates
For more information:
Emilie Jones
Media & PR Coordinator
(08) 6462 8333 | [email protected]
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