Paul Bezzina is president of the Thomastown tennis club and has been involved with the club for over 20 years. He spoke to Molly Magennis about the club and why the committee decided to change the club’s name after so many years.
What’s your connection to the northern suburbs?
I was actually born in Lalor, so I’ve always lived in the northern suburbs. I was brought up in Lalor … and now I’m living in Bundoora. So I’ve always lived in the northern suburbs, that’s pretty much where I was brought up and lived all my life.
What do you like about living in the area?
I think there’s something for everyone. Everything’s accessible …. you don’t have to go far. You’ve got a lot of sporting facilities, a lot of parks and it’s a great place to bring up a family as well. People are very friendly and also it’s … always been multicultural. For me it’s second nature, when we say it’s gotta be inclusive and diverse, for me it’s just how i’ve been brought up. I’ve had neighbours from all different nationalities, I love what every nationality brings and how vibrant the community is as well.
How long have you been involved with Thomastown Tennis Club?
In total, just over 20 years. I played for about 10 years and then I got married, got involved in some other sports, played indoor cricket and table tennis and then I became involved with the tennis club again when I turned 40. So I’ve been there the last 10 years [and] I’ve been president of the club for the last three years.
Tell us about the club …
St Luke’s tennis club was actually formed in 1963, so many years ago. Thomastown Tennis Club was actually formed in 1964. Then the clubs came together .. .they actually amalgamated in 1994. There’s some members that play just socially, some members play competition, some members don’t actually play tennis but they’re still connected on a social level with the club. The thing is there’s members that have been there for two or three generations, people have actually been there since the start and their kids and their grandkids are still part of the club.
Why did the club decide to change its name?
It was a really big decision, we sort of engaged with some local stakeholders [and] we got feedback from our members. We also got feedback from the City of Whittlesea, working with the leisure inclusion officer and our coaches, and what we found was that while we think that we were very open and very inclusive and welcoming, we weren’t growing our membership base. So doing a lot of research and looking at the statistics and engaging with everyone we found that obviously the area has changed dramatically. It was all about … .regardless of what religion you are and what cultural background you are, you’d be welcome.
What do you enjoy about playing tennis?
I’ve always enjoyed sport but … the reason why I joined the committee is I get a lot of enjoyment out of seeing people participating and welcoming people as well to the club, that traditionally who wouldn’t have thought about playing tennis. So I enjoy the competitive part of playing tennis but also very much the social part of it.
