By Dongyun Kwon
After facing the challenges, a local tennis club with over 100 years of history successfully proved it was on the right track to getting fame back by receiving two awards from its governing body.
The 2024 Tennis Victoria Player Awards took place on Sunday 20 October at Kooyong Lawn Tennis Club.
Yarra Glen Tennis Club (YGTC) shone at the awards as one of its committee members received the Pennant Player of the Year award for Grade 11 as well as the club winning Community Engagement Award.
YGTC president Craig Bennett said it’s been a successful year for the club.
“I feel extremely proud to be part of the club,” he said.
“[The Community Engagement Award] is a tremendous achievement. It’s a testament to the fantastic community spirit around the club and it recognises the dedication, professionalism and enthusiasm of our club.
“We have a great team culture, a great feeling of belonging.”
Jarron Morris, who is a committee member and a coach of YGTC, won the Pennant Player of the Year award two years in a row.
The award is based on the singles and doubles performances across the home and away season and players must have played 75 per cent of matches.
Morris said it’s a really good feeling to be able to bring the award back to the club.
“YGTC is a club with a long history but it’s been starved of success,” he said.
“Given its long history, it’s really good to finally give the club some recognition for extending the test of time.”
The award recipient was undefeated for 10 matches in both singles and doubles.
Morris emphasised the importance of consistency and hard work and said his secret to controlling his mindset for important games comes from preparation.
“It’s about putting effort in, even when you don’t feel like it, and you always have to keep a focus on what you want to achieve,” he said.
“In my mind, I didn’t necessarily want to achieve the Pennant Player of the Year award. I wanted to win a pennant flag and that’s what drove me each week, and it’s just a bonus as a reward for the effort that I put in.
“The more you prepare, the better you feel for the important matches. When you go into big finals, if you haven’t trained all that week, you don’t have anything to base your level on.”
Jarron Morris was the organiser of Pennant Picnic event where YGTC invited two tennis clubs in Victoria in June.
The event drove more engagement from the wider community, and YGTC was able to have about 50 people on the grade final day at Beaumaris Lawn Tennis Club, which all together contributed to winning the Community Engagement Award.
Morris said the Community Engagement Award is fantastic recognition for YGTC and Pennant Picnic definitely drove away momentum for his team and for the community.
“[After Pennant Picnic,] more people stayed actively engaged in what our pennant team was doing,” he said.
“When we made the final, a lot of people felt like they’d been on the journey with us from midway through the season.
“To have 50 people from Yarra Glen travel over an hour to go to a neutral venue is probably a testament to how strong our community is and what we’ve managed to achieve here as a club.”
Tennis Victoria chief executive officer Kim Kachel attended the grade final game between Yarra Glen and West Brunswick.
“That sense of belonging, and community and team culture was so incredible to witness,” he said.
“There were 50 or so supporters in their branded beanies, jumpers, homemade signs and all cheering the team on and they bought their own spread as well.
“It really epitomised what is great about pennants and was awesome to see.”
The YGTC president complimented Morris for his professionalism and enthusiasm and said Morris was the reason why he came back to tennis after leaving the sport for a long time.
“Morris has followed through with his ideas,” Bennett said.
“His engagement with all the people, from the kids and juniors right through to the people who have come back and the people who are still there, has been amazing,” he said.
With the brilliant performance by Morris and his team along with the support from the community, the YGTC managed to lift the pennant flag for Grade 11.
Star Mail will follow up on the journey of YGTC winning the flag next week.
