Tara Murray
Tennis courts remain closed across metropolitan Melbourne much to the shock of coaches and players.
There had been some hope that tennis would be allowed to resume as part of the easing of COVID-19 restrictions last week, but coaches were left stunned when restrictions on playing weren’t lifted.
Hume Tennis and Community Centre’s Tim Connelly said they were disappointed that they still couldn’t return to the court, while people in regional Victoria allowed to play tennis.
Mr Connelly, who is also the president of the Tennis Coaches Association of Victoria, said the feeling of disappointment was being felt across metropolitan Melbourne.
“It’s quite ridiculous,” he said. “Tennis Victoria and Tennis Australia have been advocating to open [courts] back up.
“We thought it was a great opportunity for the government to have some wins and allow people to get back to doing something that helps their mental health.
“It’s completely COVID safe. We are just frustrated.”
Mr Connelly said both Tennis Australia and Tennis Victoria had implemented first class COVID safe plans and all clubs had digital tracking.
He said evidence supported that tennis courts were safe areas.
“In regards to where tennis is seen with other daily activities, tennis is safer than a lot of them,” he said.
“Tennis is so easy to segregate. There has been no known COVID transitions on tennis courts.
“Tennis courts were never closed anywhere else but in Victoria, which is quite significant.”
Mr Connelly said as tennis coaches fall under the fitness wage and conditions award, they could potentially set up a portal net in a public recreation area and coach from there, but they couldn’t do the same on a court which is fenced off.
As well as a community tennis centre, Hume is home to the largest wheelchair tennis hub in Australia.
When the centre could open between lockdowns, Mr Connelly said all 15 wheelchair players who train regularly returned.
“It indicates how important for families to integrate their children into the community.”
Sunbury’s Steve Woodman also wants tennis courts open. His son Jin is part of the Hume Tennis Centre’s wheelchair tennis hub.
“It’s been his exercise for all those years,” Mr Woodman said.
“There’s not many places where you can use a wheelchair to get exercise over the last few weeks.
“We’ve tried to exercise on footpaths, but we’ve had a couple of prangs. He’s pretty keen to get back into it.
“It’s proven a bit of a challenge and we’re trying a few different things.”
Mr Woodman said he had seen his son’s desire to play tennis wane a bit while he is struggling physically.
Mr Woodman said it was frustrating to see parks full of families, but tennis players couldn’t hit the court socially distanced.
