Upon reflection, the Maiden Gully Tennis Club (MGTC) had a great year both on and off the court in 2020/21. It was simply amazing that we were even able to play any tennis in 2021/21 with COVID, safety protocols and play restrictions on 2 of our courts. But, we were able to manage the issue and achieve some great successes. The MGTC committee focussed on a 3-4 year business plan which the core focus is on bringing tennis to all ages and skills to the club which will include, but not limited to, a redevelopment of the tennis courts, promotion of junior tennis, interactions with both the Bendigo Tennis Association and Eaglehawk District Tennis Association, various mid-week tennis social days/competitions (post redevelopment), website upgrade, tennis pathways for our juniors, increase sponsorships, merchandise etc.

Off the court, the MGTC committee has been successfully engaging with the City of Greater Bendigo in working together in upgrading our courts, hopefully in 2022/23. The redevelopment will include the replacement of all current hard-courts with four artificial grass courts, and with all courts being under lights. This was proposed by the club as to support safely of participating members/visitors and at any level of tennis. On-going updates will be provided throughout 2021/22, but you will notice that the City did upgrade and enhance our furniture outside the courts to provide a better viewing platform for spectators and for general public accessing the recreation reserve. Also, we have been successful in a number of grants which will also add value to our learner and junior programs in 2021/22, and beyond.

We were able to grow our senior and junior teams from the previous year, and our membership numbers also grew. MGTC had two senior teams playing in the A-Grade and B-grade competitions in the Eaglehawk District Tennis Association, with the B-Grade team winning the final. It was great to see a number of new senior competitive players arrive and play in our teams, which was fantastic for the club. The MGTC had around 20 senior players participate throughout the EDTA season, which was fantastic, and having the ability for people to play when they were able rather than full-time commitment seemed to be enjoyed by all. It was great to see 5 junior players also playing in our senior teams and doing so well. Speaking of juniors, our Friday night juniors teams who played under the South Bendigo name, for the last time, also experienced successes as individuals or within a team, and one of our teams were successful in the senior girls division. It was great to see our junior program continuing to grow, and a big thanks must go to Brandt and Giant Tennis.

More updates will be provided, but the committee is happy to take any calls going forward into 2021/22.