How country tennis is fuelling the future of the sport in Australia

(Tennis NSW)

Regional tennis communities in Australia, and particularly New South Wales, are receiving much-deserved improvements to facilities and opportunities to pave the way for many more Australian players to develop and hone their games on home turf. 

It is no secret that Australian players face constant disadvantages due to numerous factors, from geographical location to international playing opportunities. This increased pressure to travel internationally to train, play, and compete at a high international level is an ever-increasing impediment for players in regional and rural areas of Australia.

As a result, recent developments in tennis centres across regional NSW that host international ITF and high-level events can help fill these gaps for Australian players and tennis communities. 

Tennis NSW Board of Directors Vice President and Regional Director Brett Bevan spoke directly to The First Serve about the development of country tennis in NSW. 

"From a player's perspective, it is challenging," Bevan said. 

"As a player, it is really, really challenging to make it outside the major metropolitan areas. [The recent developments] have made these events accessible to all parts of the state. NSW, unlike some of our other states in Australia, is a very wide state. We have tournaments as far south as Albury, and as far west as Parkes.

"That's an enormous geographical area, so by being able to have these high-end ITF semi-professional events in the back door of a number of our regional-based players, it makes it achievable and accessible and real from a players' perspective, but also for coaches and tennis centres to see that they do have a place within the tennis ecosystem."

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Last year, the Jim Elphick Tennis Centre in Wagga Wagga was officially opened following a state-of-the-art facility transformation that poured AUD$9.15 million dollars into the redevelopment of the centre. Now featuring eight International Tennis Federation (ITF) standard hard courts, along with a stunning clubhouse and additional courts, the centre has incredible opportunities lined up for players of all levels. 

The Jim Elphick Tennis Centre hosted back-to-back women's ITF World Tennis Tour tournaments last year as part of the Australian Pro Tour and is set to once again host two back-to-back W35 events in late September to early October. 

Furthermore, Wagga Wagga will host the prestigious NSW Country Championships both this year and next year. 

In Tamworth, the AUD$3.45 million Treloar Park redevelopment project has also produced ITF standard hard courts at the Courts at East location as well as world-class facilities capable of hosting international events. 

Last year, Tamworth hosted a back-to-back series of two M25 ITF World Tennis Tour tournaments called the Capital of Country International. This back-to-back series returns this year with two more M25 events slated for late October as part of the Australian Pro Tour. 

"Last year, I was up at Tamworth, and the fact that the schools came along, so you have school-aged children courtside watching some of the best players in Australia, and quite frankly, players inside the top 200 in the world playing, supporting them, giving autographs out, we're aspiring junior players being able to hit with these guys as hitting partners, and it makes it more real, more realistic," Bevan explained.

The Wollongong Regional Tennis Centre also officially reopened earlier this year, in February, following the multi-million dollar project at the Centre at Beaton Park. It now features eight ITF-sized cushioned acrylic courts with 15 total courts and a world-class facility. These improvements have led to Wollongong being slated to host two W35 women's ITF events as part of the Australian Pro Tour in late October and early November of this year.

"We've got the Tamworth venue, the Wagga Wagga venue, and the Wollongong venue as well," Bevan further stated. 

"In Tennis NSW, we have a regional investment facility strategy to further invest and continue to work on those partnerships with councils, with state government, and, where appropriate, the federal government to continue to upscale venues so we can continue to house events within NSW in areas where it makes sense, areas that are connected to infrastructure like airports and train stations.

"So in an ideal world, NSW will become a hub or a state that can deliver every level of event from red-ball competitions all the way through to professional events. That way, athletes in NSW, who are both regional and Sydney-based, are able to achieve their goals, which include reaching that international point from their home state."     

Country tennis is going from strength to strength, and a big part of this is that regional centres in NSW have the green flag to host these prestigious ITF events. This is incredibly big news for Australian players across regional NSW and even across the whole country, meaning more opportunities to play world-class tennis and earn ITF ranking points and experience without having to leave the country. 

Sometimes, all it takes is just one ITF point to help a regional player get the opportunity to play and compete competitively and consistently on the world stage. And regional players in NSW are getting additional support to help them get to this global level. 

"Country NSW tennis is in a very strong position; it's got some amazing players, including the recent announcement of investment in our country athlete performance pathway program, which is a program that bridges people from the regional level into the junior ITF space, investing significant funding and bringing opportunities to the best regional athletes,” Bevan confirmed. 

"We've had two of these camps over the last two years, and have seen a considerable rise in the number of junior players earning their first junior ITF points domestically in Australia and NSW or ducking over to Fiji, New Zealand, and New Caledonia. Now, by getting that one point, it has opened up so many doors, and the cap program and investment in regional athletes have been instrumental in that."

Furthermore, this also means the development of regional tennis communities, attracting more players, coaches, and sponsors to regional venues, further developing the culture of professional tennis in regional NSW and Australia. 

These world-class facilities allow for events to earn great economic value, which can help continually develop the local economies, as well as uncover and hone local talent. 

"Historically, it shows that some of the best players in the country have sometimes come from regional areas, whether it be Roy Emerson, whether it be Evonne Goolagong Cawley, we've had some of the maybe greatest players in our sport come from regional areas, and it's important that we continue to nurture that," said Bevan.

With all of the changes to the competitive and tournament-based structure of tennis in Australia and globally, regional tennis must continue to adapt to these new demands. 

"I think the sport over the last 20 to 30 years has materially changed the introduction of the competitive play framework a couple of years ago, and UTR has significantly changed the landscape, whether it be good or bad, that's arguable, but it has certainly changed the way players assess their own ability and where they play, and makes travel sometimes less likely," expressed Bevan.

"So there are significant barriers to the competitive play changes, and this is part of what we can do in NSW to make tennis more accessible. A healthy, strong, competitive regional space and country space only drives the sport.

"At the end of the day an overwhelming majority of tennis clubs are not in the metropolitan area especially in NSW and it's that we continue to support them wherever we can through not just the construction of these large ITF avenues but also leveraging the Tennis NSW facility enhancement fund which is a $500,000 annual investment from Tennis NSW to upgrade recreational or domestic venues that are on a smaller scale with smaller projects."

More importantly, the sustained development and success of tennis as a sport in NSW is promoted through such investments and initiatives in regional communities. The improvement of country tennis seeps into all sectors of the tennis community and helps shine a light on areas that need improving in the future. 

"For about 10 or 15 years, regional players started to fall a bit behind metropolitan players in terms of strength, but we're starting to see results now through events like state teams and city versus country, that NSW regional players are now coming back and they are returning to strength in numbers and they're really doing well," Bevan said. 

"There's still more to do, and we need to continue to work with our national body to ensure that, especially in the female and girls space, there is still a lot to be done in terms of growing participation with young girls and young women, where their participation is lagging behind, unfortunately. We need Tennis Australia, and we are sure that they're going to be working hard to continue to grow that because it's an area that is fundamental to the sport's success." 

The growth of country tennis across regional NSW is promoting accessibility, equality, and progression for regional players as well as players all across the state. These investments, initiatives, and projects are bridging the gap between country tennis and the world. 

The First Serve is excited to continue to support and highlight the successes of tennis communities across regional NSW and Australia.

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