At the recent Victorian Tennis Awards held at Kooyong tennis club our President Paul Proctor and Vice President Justin Metcalf were presented with the Most Outstanding Inclusion Initiative Award 2023 for the clubs All Abilities Program.

This is great recognition for the hard work that the volunteer group  and head coach Mark Brodam put into the program each week. The program has gone from strength to strength with regular and new players attending the weekly sessions on a Thursday evening since its inception in 2021.

The growth of the program has led to a Saturday All Abilities Squad forming with the aim of providing more pathways for players with a disability in tennis. An example being the joint competition held at Ferntree Gully between our club and players from Doncaster coached by Vicky Lee and Slamin Tennis (another finalist in the category) This event was supported by Tennis Victoria with funding from the Muscular Disorder Movement.

With the continued support of Tennis Victoria, Bendigo Bank and Special Olympics Australia the club looks forward to more events and watching the all abilities players form many friendships through tennis with the opportunity to play socially or to compete in wider competitions.

For more information on joining the multiple award winning program (Vicsport Peter Norman Inclusion Award 2021, Best Club Initiated Program 2022 Knox Council Award) contact Rebecca Redfern secretary.ftgtc@gmail.com