Kyabram tennis coach David Starling said the decision had been made at a recent tennis club meeting to offer free tennis at the lawn courts.
“It will be for the month of September. We have enough ready now for people to come down from September 1, but at some stage through September all the courts will be operational,” he said.
Starling said the concept was first considered last year, but complications with COVID shutdowns put the community offer on the backburner.
“People can just turn up and have a hit. It usually costs $20 an hour to hire the court, so if four friends decide to come and play for an hour it is a pretty significant saving,” he said.
The Kyabram facility has 18 courts, one of the bigger facilities in the area.
“We are planning to run some things in conjunction with the free offer, which will also attract people to come and try the sport,” he said.
The club is currently considering a return to the top flight of the Goulburn Murray competition.
It currently has several juniors involved in a Bendigo Futures competition, players from Kyabram, Undera and Stanhope in team of nine.
Jim and Bill Hipwell from stanhope, Kyabram’s Kade and Tayla Starling, along with Katarina Wearne — then Reanne and Jaxon Eddy from Undera.
“It is run over five weeks as a match play competition. Because it is a hard court facility it has run during winter,” he said.
Starling said tennis coaches select the kids and can be involved in the game itself.
“The only thing we can’t do is hit the balls. We can give on-court advice, talk about points that have been played and offer support,” he said.
Hot shots tennis will start at Kyabram in term four, in early October, while twilight tennis will commence at the end of October.
