Kids ace it

THANKYOU for highlighting the plight of the Harkaway Tennis Club (“Kids cop a serve”, Gazette, 1 October). I understand that your front page article has generated the offer of an alternative temporary“home” venue for the junior teams, and added impetus to our application to the City of Casey for financial assistance.
Essential repairs to the two synthetic grass courts have already been completed.
On behalf of the midweek ladies’ team, I would like to thank our ward councillors Rafal Kaplon and Rosalie Crestani. On learning of the club’s situation, they responded immediately by inspecting the courts and their surroundings, and put our request to council the following week. We are now hopeful of being a vanguard beneficiary of council’s newly adopted Quick Grants Scheme.
Our bush setting is delightful. The piping sound of king parrots and the laughter of kookaburras reminds players that our perspective is on the enjoyment of a sociable, healthy lifestyle activity as much as on match scores. As well as our juniors and ladies’ teams, we currently have a men’s social group that plays on a Tuesday evening.
Tennis caters for players from ages eight to 80. It can be played day or night, year round. But we need more members – especially younger ones who will keep the club vibrant once we oldies drop off the perch.
So readers, if the idea of a small, friendly, semi-rural tennis club with pleasant, rustic facilities appeals, we have a lot to offer. For adult competition, we don’t dictate which team you must play in as some clubs do. Come with your friends and make up your own group, or come on your own – we’ll make you welcome.
The walls of our clubhouse boast a photograph depicting a bevy of young women holding racquets, dressed in long white frocks and wide hats. A board in front of them reads “Harkaway Tennis Club 1910”. So although the currently facilities date from the 1970s, this association is over 100 years old. Will you join and help keep it going for another century?
Rosalie Counsell,
Harkaway.