From the sidelines to Centre Court: What tennis still doesn't understand about belonging

Tennis has a problem.

It is slowly losing ground to pickleball and padel. Not because tennis is a worse sport, but because those sports have figured out something we haven't. They've figured out how to make people feel part of something.

If you have a friend who plays pickleball, you'll see it. Medals on Facebook. Division wins on Instagram. Monthly tournaments. Constant engagement. There's always something happening.

Tennis, by comparison, has gaps.

We've got fixtures sorted in a lot of places. Coaching pathways are there, depending on who you ask. Junior development is well established. But adult tournament play? We haven't quite figured it out. And that's where we're losing people.

One model that has already solved this is the GLTA (Gay and Lesbian Tennis Alliance).

"What the hell is the GLTA?" is something I still hear regularly. It's like I'm speaking a different language. And even now, that slight shift in someone's face when you say the word "gay", that moment of discomfort, still makes me smirk a little. Because behind that reaction is something most of tennis hasn't caught up with yet.

Before I get into that, I have to take you back to when I was a junior.

As a junior, I didn't want my parents to come and watch me play. Not because I wasn't proud of the tennis I was producing, I was. I was training hard, competing well, and holding my own against some very good players. But I was terrified of what they might hear from the sidelines. Comments from other parents. Comments from other kids.

"The f*g that could play."

Listen to The First Serve Live every Monday at 8pm AEDT in its 18th year on the SEN Network/App, Australia's only dedicated weekly tennis program on commercial radio running through till the end of November.

Or worse, said just loud enough to carry, "he hits the ball well for a sissy boy."

If you were winning, it was "you can't lose to the gay kid, son." If you lost but played well, it became "well, you're pretty good for a gay kid."

Before anything else, before results, before development, you were labelled. And once that

label sticks, it frames everything that follows.

I didn't completely walk away from tennis. I just shifted. I gravitated toward in-house fixtures, quieter, more contained environments where I could play without everything else attached to it.

And I was lucky. Huge shout-out to Tennis Gear's Mark Bloomfield, who welcomed a camp 14-year-old into his in-house fixtures team without even blinking. No comments, no sideways looks, just tennis. That kind of acceptance sticks with you.

In 2005, when I was 18, I found Team Brisbane Tennis (TBT).

It wasn't some grand entrance. It was just one night, one hit, one group of people who made tennis feel simple again.

TBT is built on a simple idea. Tennis should be a safe space for anyone, regardless of where they sit on the sexuality spectrum. And you feel that immediately. Through social doubles, people can play without fear, without judgement, without that second layer running through their head.

TBT has also completely redefined how I look at our community. We have people from all walks of life turn up. Recently divorced or separated. People are coming out later in life. People are still figuring it out. Even straight players who are just curious and enjoy the environment.

Over more than 20 years in that group, I've seen it all.

And the one constant is this: tennis has an incredible ability to bring people together. It creates connection, it builds community, and in many cases, it plays a real role in supporting mental health. That's something the broader system shouldn't overlook.

It's not exclusive either. We have straight men and women who attend because they enjoy the environment. The level ranges from complete beginners through to players around UTR 11. That mix doesn't weaken the standard; it strengthens the community.

One thing the GLTA has absolutely got right is its grading system. Divisions run from Open, A, B, C, through to D, and they are completely non-gendered. That structure creates fair competition, but also inclusivity. Everyone has a place, and everyone has a pathway to improve.

From there, the pathway expands globally through the GLTA, the Gay and Lesbian Tennis Alliance.

This isn't a fringe circuit. It's a structured international tour with over 100 tournaments a year. It's taken me across Australia, to North America, Asia and Oceania, and last year to the World Championships in Puerto Rico, where I finished top 8 in Open doubles.

What GLTA also gets right is that it's not just about matches. The weekends are built around community. In bigger hubs, that might mean organised events, nights out or connections with local LGBTQIA+ venues. In places like Hobart or Ballarat, those moments can be just as powerful for the local community. It becomes more than a tournament; it becomes a space people want to be part of.

The Hobart event is a perfect example. It runs alongside the WTA tournament, with GLTA players competing on the back courts while having access to watch the best players in the world. That crossover, that proximity, is exactly how adult engagement in tennis should be built.

Across Australia, this isn't isolated either. There are established communities doing the same work. Tennis Sydney, VIC Tennis, Hotties in Hobart, Loton Park in Perth, and Pink Tennis in Canberra, which has been running since 1978. Many states have taken real initiative in connecting with our communities.

Which makes the gaps stand out even more when they exist.

A blunt example, Tennis Queensland's most recent annual report didn't mention our community at all under diversity and inclusion. Not once. That's not a small oversight. That's a missed connection with a part of the sport that is already active, engaged and growing.

The Australian Open has shown what good looks like. The Glam Slam, held over finals weekend, is a GLTA event that sits alongside one of the biggest tournaments in the world. It's the culmination of the Aussie swing through Perth, Canberra, Hobart, Auckland and Melbourne. It works because it's integrated, not separate.

Compare that with what's happened around the Miami Open, where initiatives like Out at the Open have been removed. On paper, it might look minor, but for communities like ours, those signals matter. Inclusion can't be something that appears and disappears. It has to be consistent.

At a local level, the GLTA model shows exactly what's possible. Our Brisbane tournament, running since 2018, had 194 entries last year from 24 different countries. That's a genuine international event.

It runs across three days. It's intense. It creates energy. It creates an audience.

And that's the opportunity tennis is missing.

There is no reason ITF or AMT events couldn't run alongside GLTA tournaments. Pro events during the week. Community events from Friday to Sunday. Same venue, same week.

You suddenly have people staying, watching, and engaging. Sponsors connecting with a real audience. A tournament that actually feels alive.

I had a conversation with a representative from a major racquet manufacturer that summed up the disconnect perfectly. He spoke about how exciting Brisbane 2032 would be for our community. I said I'd probably be in Europe on holiday, Airbnb'ing my house. He looked confused and asked why I wouldn't be competing in the Paralympics or whether I just wasn't good enough.

It wasn't malicious. But it showed how little understanding there still is.

Pickleball and padel aren't winning because they're better sports. They're winning because they're better at building participation and connection through events.

Tennis doesn't have a participation problem. It has an engagement problem.

And the solution is already here.

The question is whether tennis is willing to use it.

TBT - www.tbt.org.au GLTA - https://glta.net

ASTE (Australian Synthetic Turf Enterprises) is Melbourne’s tennis court construction specialists.

One game and you will know the difference.

Play on a court you’re proud of, play on an ASTE court.

Head to www.aste.com.au to discover more.