By Dongyun Kwon
Yarra Glen Tennis Club (YGTC) recently commenced the construction of a wall to provide more training opportunities to club members.
The construction finally started on 13 November and is expected to be completed by early to mid December.
The Hitting Wall will stand 3 metres high and 5 metres wide, providing opportunities for hitting without having a partner.
YGTC president Craig Bennett said the Hitting Wall project was part of the longer-term objectives to continue to grow the club.
“It’s a significant achievement as it gives us another driver and opportunity to develop and upgrade around the club,” he said.
“We thank the Yarra Ranges Council for their support. They’ve been actively involved in the planning.”
The Hitting Wall project began in 2018 when the club had only around 30 members and the members found it hard to find a hitting partner to practise.
YGTC committee member and head coach Jarron Morris said he noticed one of the boys in his group lessons would ride his bike down to the courts alone and hit against a very old chain-link fence several times a week.
“Nick Roper’s situation highlighted a gap in our club; there weren’t enough members to consistently find hitting partners, but Nick still had the drive to improve. This moment inspired me to propose the idea of building a dedicated Hitting Wall,” he said.
“At the next YGTC committee meeting, I raised the idea, and it was unanimously supported. The main goal was to ensure that any member without a hitting partner could still practise and improve. It was also seen as a way to attract and retain members.
“Sadly, this would eventually lead Nick to leave the club and pursue soccer instead.”
The first move YGTC took was to approach the Yarra Ranges Council for funding.
“They agreed to support the project, but only on the condition that it be accessible to the public, not just the tennis club,” Morris said.
“There were differing opinions within the committee on how to handle this, but in the end, it was agreed that if we were going to put in the effort, it should be a club project for our members.”
Despite the loss of the funding opportunity from the council, YGTC didn’t give up and decided to put fundraising efforts through different events.
In the end, Morris was put in charge of the fundraising efforts and came up with the following ideas; Xmas party with a mini tournament, trivia night and club-specific beanies.
Morris said the turnout for all of them exceeded expectations.
“Our first fundraising event was the Christmas party in December, 2018. We had planned for around 30 to 40 attendees, but to our surprise, over 100 people showed up, including many new faces and former members. The turnout far exceeded expectations, raising a decent amount of money,” he said.
“Our second event was a trivia night. By this time, we had a new president, Joe Serra, who was a big fan of trivia. I convinced him to help run the event, and we initially booked a room for 30 people, however, the number of attendees grew so much that we needed to upgrade to a much larger venue, and we ended up with around 120 attendees, giving the project another significant boost.
“We also ordered club beanies, which quickly became an iconic symbol of our club. We started with an order of 50, which sold out quickly, prompting us to order 100 more. These beanies alone raised over $1000 for the club.”
On top of the fundraising efforts, Yarra Ranges Council offered funds for a major upgrade of YGTC facilities in 2019.
Thanks to the funds, YGTC courts were resurfaced, fences replaced, and new LED lights were installed which also contributed to boosting the membership and helped the club reach the fundraising goal.
In the following two years, the Covid pandemic hampered the project.
“At the start of 2020, we had an engineering report, soil tests, and all the necessary paperwork to get the build underway, including a contracted builder,” Morris said.
“However, by 2022, many of our documents had expired, and the builder had retired, costing us over $3000.
“Post-Covid inflation had also caused the project quotes to balloon to $30,000, not including permits, which initially came in at around $10,000 when we first obtained quotes before Covid.”
Despite the obstacles, YGTC kept chasing the ways to get the Hitting Wall as the new president Craig Bennett and the new secretary and treasurer Kerry Guthrie brought fresh energy to the project.
All permits were updated earlier this year, and the construction finally commenced in November, six and a half years after Morris first proposed the idea to the committee.
Last year, Nick Roper returned to the club, and the Xmas Party and Trivia Night continue as annual events of YGTC.
Morris thanked everyone who helped commence the Hitting Wall project.
He said one of the key supporters of the idea was Scheryl Williams, who had been both the club’s secretary and treasurer.
“Scheryl dedicated herself to laying the groundwork for the build, though none of us realised how much work it would take or how many years it would span,” Morris said.
“Since stepping down from the committee, Scheryl has continued to contribute to the club in a different capacity, working with the junior players through my coaching business.
“Scheryl and I have designed programs that continue to fundraise for the hitting wall, including our Blue Stage Program for three to five year olds, which she runs completely voluntarily, donating all funds to the club. Through this and other programs, my coaching business Discover Tennis has contributed nearly $8000 to the project.”
