Heads tennis club on the rise

BARWON Heads tennis players and administrators have wrapped up a huge year by earning recognition as the region’s best-performing club.

Tennis Geelong crowned Barwon Heads Tennis Club as its club of the year in 2021-22 for its performance on and off the court.

President Jason Ah Sam said the gong was an exciting reward for the club, which currently had record membership numbers and continued to “punch above its weight” in top-grade and midweek ladies competitions.

“It wasn’t something we’d targeted, it was a delightful and pleasant surprise,” he said.

“It’s a reflection of how the club has been run and the way our players have approached playing tennis. It’s a great honour to receive it.

“The criteria is both on-court and off-court performance; so how well the club is run, how seamless our hosting of competitions is, how is the club going from an ongoing development point of view.

“The club’s grown enormously. I’ve been club president for three years now and been on the committee for the best part of the last 10. We’ve never had as many members as we currently have, we’re well above the 250-mark these days.”

Mr Ah Sam was optimistic about the club’s long-term future too, as a master plan for the town’s Village Park precinct takes shape.

Barwon Heads is set to receive an upgraded pavilion with new changerooms and clubrooms, and resurfaced courts under the plans.

“The first thing is to upgrade our 1950s amenities and upgrade those to be a lot more family and female friendly. The second was to improve the tennis pavilion so it becomes another space that the Barwon Heads community can use,” he said.

The tennis club hopes funding approval will be finalised early this year for construction to start in 2022.

The city’s master plan indicated that the club had already received a $285,000 state government grant for its new clubrooms, and that it would require a further $50,000 to resurface two courts with synthetic grass.

The new tennis facilities are among a host of sport and community projects set for redevelopment under the $4.1-million Village Park plan.

In the meantime, Mr Ah Sam encouraged Barwon Heads residents and visitors to come to the courts for a hit during the summer break, with the courts open for public use.