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Kilmore tennis juniors receive recognition

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Max Davies
Max Davies
Max is a journalist for the North Central Review. He joined the paper as a cadet journalist in 2021 and graduated from La Trobe University in 2023. He takes a keen interest in motorsport and the automotive industry.

By Max Davies

Kilmore Tennis Club has been named Tennis Victoria’s Affiliate of the Month for September 2022 for its work through its Tennis4Teens junior program.

The Affiliate of the Month is an award for Tennis Victoria affiliated clubs who display the values of collaboration, humility, innovation or excellence through their activities.

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Kilmore Tennis Club was recognised for the establishment and support of its junior committee, who contributed ideas and strengthen the club while also working towards hosting more social events to encourage more involvement from young people in the community.
Club committee member Jacinta Gallagher said the junior committee was formed by teenagers who took part in the club’s Tennis4Teens program with a social aspect in mind.

“They wanted to have more of a say in what program they wanted to run, so we listened to their ideas,” she said.

“When the program started in summer it was more formalised, but now they’ve taken on the initiative and formed their own committee, they’ve taken over and they’re actually running their own program.

“They’re adding to the program and including their own ideas, they choose when they hold activities, so on Saturday night they might have a games night and another night a movie night, they’ve changed the program to include what they want.”

The Tennis4Teens program was started as a way to get more young people back into playing tennis following disruptions as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic while also encouraging social interaction between the club’s junior members.

Tennis Victoria club development officer Sam Condon said the Tennis4Teens program was designed to encourage youth to be active in a non-competitive environment.

“Tennis4Teens is a stress-free, fun, social program that offers participants activities both on and off the court,” he said.

“Tennis4Teens is a program designed for youth with the core value being to create a safe space for the youth to be physically and mentally active through the assistance of tennis.”

Club president and coach Gavin Moreira said being named affiliate club of the month was encouraging for the junior committee.

“It’s very positive, it gives the kids a bit of recognition for the program that’s been developed through the club and especially now they’ve sort of got ownership of it,” he said.

“When the kids play competition, they’re talking to other kids from different clubs so it’s a good way for the other clubs to learn about the program and say, ‘if Kilmore can do it, why can’t other clubs do the same thing?’”

Mr Moreira said the junior committee helped to organise social activities for the club’s junior players who wanted to do activities off the court to complement their training and competitive play.

“Every club is in the same boat post-COVID, they all need to try and increase their numbers on the court, but these guys want to do things off the court as well,” he said.

“If the kids are at the club longer, it can only mean success down the track.”

The club hopes members of the junior committee can also learn skills in leadership in management to allow them to become involved with the club committee when they get older.

Mr Moreira said he was grateful for the support from Tennis Victoria and hoped the program could continue to expand to other clubs in the area and across the state.

“There was a lot of support from Tennis Victoria, so hopefully with the recognition that will go on and keep us evolving the program in different forms,” he said.

“There is talk in Tennis Victoria of forming a youth advisory committee and they’re trying to get participants from clubs all around Victoria, so that’s something we can expand on locally and then try to take it statewide.”

For more information or to get in touch with Kilmore Tennis Club, people can contact Gavin Moreira on 0419 549 107.

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