Oakleigh Tennis Club wins Tennis Victoria's "Most Outstanding Club or Centre" award for 2024/25.

Fri, 23 May 2025 00:00

At the Victorian Tennis Community Awards on May 22, Oakleigh Tennis Club won the prestigious "Most Outstanding Club or Centre" award.

This has capped off an amazing recent period for Oakleigh Tennis Club, winning the following awards:

  • Tennis Victoria's Coaching Excellence Award (Club or Centre) - 2022/23 - Tina Keown (OTC Head Coach).
  • Newcombe Medal - Tennis Australia's Coaching Excellence Award (Club or Centre) - 2022/23 - Tina Keown (OTC Head Coach).
  • Tennis Australia's #1 Book-A-Court venue for 2024 (more court hours booked than any other venue in Australia).
  • Waverley District Tennis Association's Premier Club Award - Summer 2024/25 Competition Season - for the highest average ladder position (3.37692) of our 20 junior and 6 senior teams.
  • Tennis Victoria's Most Outstanding Club or Centre Award - 2024/25.

Video of the announcement and presentation can be viewed at:

https://vimeo.com/event/5128124/b60a2fcf4d

The announcement and presentation of our award starts at 1 hour 22 minutes 40 seconds.

In accepting the award on behalf of the club, Donald Smith (President) stated:

"Thank you to Tennis Victoria for all your support and for putting on these awards, and congratulations to all the nominees and winners tonight.

Oakleigh Tennis Club has had a wonderful history, dating back to 1879.

Our longevity has been due to generations of hard-working volunteers and more recently, the fantastic relationships between successive committees and coaching teams, who are the lifeblood of any club.

There have been 29 Life Members of our club, highlighting the long-term dedication of so many volunteers during our 146-year history, without which we would not still be here today.

I would like to pay special tribute to David McNamara, who came to the club in 1993 when we had no coach, no members playing competition and no active juniors. 

Not only did David save the club from closing, but over the next 26 years he and his coaching family helped the club to grow and thrive until his retirement in 2019. 

The handover to our new coaches from the Victorian Tennis Academy, wonderfully lead by Tina Keown, coming on board at the same time as North Oakleigh Tennis Club merged with us and we relocated to our new Caloola Reserve facility, saw massive simultaneous changes for the club to adapt to, but it couldn’t have been a smoother transition, thanks to the good will, collaborative spirit, willingness to embrace change and hard work of everyone involved.

A big part of our success has been that the committee and the coaches are always working in each other’s best interests and to maximise participation.  As a result, we have both prospered by more than the sum of our parts, and everyone at the club has benefitted. 

Typically, it was our head coach, Tina Keown, who suggested the club should nominate for this award.

And finally, if I might just mention, we LOVE the Book-A-Court system because it has given us a healthy and reliable revenue stream, and has also helped to drive our massive growth in membership."

Details of Oakleigh Tennis Club's Nomination Submission

Following Oakleigh Tennis Club's recent recognition as the #1 Book-A-Court venue in Australia for 2024, we have decided that this year would be the perfect time for us to nominate the club for the Tennis Victoria Awards in the Most Outstanding Club category.

A big "THANK-YOU" to all the members who contributed to this submission with your emails of support. 

We received 54 detailed and passionate emails, which we are sure helped us to win this award.

Nominations followed a strict on-line format, with 7 questions that had to be answered. 

All answers had a 300-word maximum, except where shown.

These questions (in BOLD ITALICS) and our answers are shown below under the headings Q1 to Q7.

Items with an asterisk * before them have a relevant document included in one of the attachments.

The allowed attachments are as shown below.

Click on the attachment number to open the PDF or image.

Aerial Photo - Oakleigh TC (High Resolution)

Attachment 1 - Supporting documents created by Oakleigh TC

Attachment 2 - Supporting documents created by others

Attachment 3 - Important links & Oakleigh TC web pages

Oakleigh TC Support Letters and Member Feedback

Q1

Has the club completed a club/venue health assessment with Tennis Victoria via the Health Indicator of Tennis (HIT) Tool?

Does the club have an action, business or strategic plan with a particular focus on driving increased activity, financial health and quality facilities of the venue.
Within the 300 word limit, please outline your plan’s focus and any milestones achieved.

As well as conducting the *HIT Tool assessment, we have also been conducting monthly *internal Club Health Overviews since 2019, to confirm we are meeting our *Strategic and *Financial Plans, especially:

  • Membership numbers - are we an attractive tennis venue?                                                                           
  • Membership revenue - do our fees strike the right balance between affordability & revenue raising?
  • Book-A-Court hours and bookings – are our courts being used sufficiently? 
  • Book-A-Court revenue – does this contribute to viable, sustainable finances?
  • Social Tennis – are there enough organised sessions per week for members to access?
  • Coaching participants – are numbers sufficient for our coaches to run a profitable business?
  • Competition team entries – do our members want to represent OTC in teams?
  • Profit, loss and total club savings – can we meet our objectives, cover our ongoing expenses, and are we on track to cover our biggest future expense – the eventual replacement of the artificial grass surface?

The answer to ALL the above questions is YES, especially post-COVID-restrictions when:

  • Membership numbers:- 600+ since 2022 (672 in 2024, up from 116 in 2019 - almost 6 times bigger!)
  • Membership revenue:- $47,000+ annually since 2022, and on track again this year.
  • We were recognised as the *NUMBER 1 BOOK-A-COURT VENUE in AUSTRALIA for 2024.
  • Revenue from BAC, social tennis and visitors’ fees exceeding $33,000 annually since 2022.  
  • Our 6 organised social tennis gatherings per week are increasingly popular.
  • Coaching participation and team entries (64 in 2024) continue to rise. 
  • We have to hire outside courts on week-ends to keep up with demand!
  • Facility maintenance:- our courts are professionally groomed every 3 months.
  • Club savings:- up from $10,000 in 2018 to $330,000 now, more than enough to cover the cost of court surface renewal, which is still not due for 5-10 years.

Q2

Describe how the club creates a safe, inclusive and thriving tennis community enabling more people to play more often through good governance, leadership & development, committee/management training, child safety and succession planning.

To enable more people to play more often we have:

  • Embraced ClubSpark – OTC was one of the pilot clubs to adopt ClubSpark (& My-Tennis), as we appreciate that these systems make it easier for people to connect, join our club and play tennis.
  • Embraced the Book-A-Court system, as it enables the maximum participation, court usage and usage analysis without extra administrative burdens. 
  • Installed a second Book-A-Court gate for easier access to each 4-court enclosure.
  • Maintained our courts in peak condition, with *GrasSports 3-monthly maintenance.
  • Kept our membership fees at very affordable levels.  In 2024, our fees rose for the FIRST TIME in 9 YEARS (since 2015), with modest price increases between $10-$25.
  • Offered a 25% discount PLUS a year’s FREE membership for renewing members during COVID.
  • Always opened memberships in December, so new members during Summer get up to 19 months’ membership (for the price of 12) in their first year.

To ensure good governance, leadership & development, committee/management training, child safety and succession planning the club has:

  • Completed *Monash Council’s 12-session Club Development Program run by Leisure Networks, covering Governance, Financial, Volunteer and Planning training.
  • Complied with all, and exceeded many of the requirements in Monash Council’s Active Sports Club Framework.
  • Created a *Child Safety webpage, a *Child Safety Policy and *Code of Conduct.
  • Appointed a Member Protection Safety Officer.
  • Created *Emergency and *Risk Management Plans.
  • Paid $2,499 for ClubMap to run  a *Premium Club Planning Workshop, focussing on Club Structure and Volunteers, and acted on their recommendations by creating a *Volunteers page on our website, a *Committee & Volunteer Structure diagram and detailed *descriptions for all volunteer positions, which aided our volunteer recruitment.
  • Provided club laptops for all office bearers (making club information easier to manage on dedicated computers and making succession handovers easier).

Q3

Describe the range and quality of programming opportunities for all players including pathways for junior and adult tennis players, Hot Shots, Cardio Tennis, social opportunities, tournaments, and competitions.

List all programs offered (tick all that apply and provide participation numbers).

300 words maximum.  150 words maximum (other programs).

Oakleigh Tennis Club has a wide range of tennis quality programs for both members and non-members to participate in, as shown below.  These programs are constantly being reviewed, improved and added to as demand changes, or when new opportunities become available.

  • Tennis Hot Shots
  • 150 juniors weekly.
  • Fun & engaging skills development for children aged 3-12.
  • Cardio Tennis
  • 75+ unique participants annually.
  • Heart-pumping, fitness-focussed, fun, social workouts.
  • Casual Court Hire/Book a Court

In 2023-24:

  • 956 unique users.
  • 6 courts available from 7am-11pm plus 2 courts available from 7am-9pm (due to residential proximity).
  • 17,423 bookings (all sources).
  • 35,296 court hours booked (all sources) = 78% of available court time.
  • 2,848 paid transactions (non-members or member nights bookings only.)
  • $35,537.91 Book-A-Court revenue.
  • Australia’s NUMBER 1 Book-A-Court venue in 2024.
  • Tennis 4 Teens
  • 27 unique players participated in this Tennis 4 Teens program. 
  • Social Tennis
  • 100+ participants per week.
  • All ages and standards catered for in a friendly, welcoming atmosphere.
  • 6 organised social tennis events (3-5 courts), on:
  • Monday, Wednesday, Friday & Sunday mornings.
  • Saturday afternoons.
  • Wednesday evenings.
  • Club Competition
  • 64 teams entered in 2024.
  • 100+ participants per week.
  • 23 Summer, 8 Autumn (night), 24 Winter, 9 Spring (night) teams.
  • Matches played on Saturday & Sunday mornings, Saturday afternoons, Monday, Tuesday & Thursday nights.
  • Matches played in WDTA, BDNTA & TV Men’s & Ladies’ Pennant competitions.
  • Tournaments
  • 350 participants across 11 UTR tournaments per year
  • Club championships run every year
  • School Partnerships
  • Our courts are regularly booked by local schools to run the tennis components of their sporting programs.
  • Salesian College (524 court-hours over 62 sport days in 2024)
  • Oakleigh Grammar (66 court-hours over 16 sport days in 2024 )
  • Diversity & Inclusion Programs
  • Our VTA coaches delivered Rally-4-Ever + LGBTQI Community events throughout the year (participation numbers unavailable).

Other programs (please specify below)

Apart from those mentioned above, our VTA coaching team also offer a wide range of high-quality programs and pathways for juniors who are above Hot Shot standards and adults of all ages and standards, who want to simply improve aspects of their game, or develop into top-level competition or tournament players, such as:

  • Junior Performance:              
  • 30+ participants weekly.
  • The pathway for juniors to progress from beginners to competitive athletes, focussing on skill refinement and match play.
  • Adult Coaching:
  • 125 unique participants annually.
  • Group lessons, private coaching, and clinics tailored to various skill levels.

Average participants per term in 2023-24:

  • Junior programs (Hot Shots plus Junior Performance) = 135.
  • Adult programs (Coaching plus Cardio) = 111.

By offering a well-rounded selection of programs and maintaining high levels of participation, we strive to create a vibrant tennis community that caters to the diverse needs and aspirations of our members.

Q4

Describe the level of stakeholder engagement and strength of relationships the club holds to assist in continuing to grow and develop

i.e. the club and coach relationship, local government, community partnerships, Tennis Victoria.

The *OTC-VTA Club-Coach relationship is THE vital relationship that drives our combined success.

  • Both parties actively work to see the OTHER succeed, and by doing so, we both prosper.
  • The Club-Coach Agreement financial arrangements reflect the value OTC places on seeing VTA running a thriving, profitable business.
  • OTC:
  • Recognises that coaching (available only to members) drives membership (especially juniors).
  • Allocates coaching courts at times that best suit VTA’s needs.
  • Gave VTA first priority for court access as COVID playing restrictions lifted.
  • VTA’s coaches:
  • Are all financial OTC members.
  • Regularly attend committee meetings.
  • Select & submit junior competition teams.
  • Volunteer as Junior Convenors for Saturday & Sunday competition.
  • Suggested and volunteered to run club championships & UTR tournaments.
  • VTA hires OTC their outside courts (at reduced rates) to help satisfy OTC’s growing week-end court requirements.

We have an excellent long-standing relationship with Tennis Victoria, maintaining frequent communication, supporting their initiatives and involving them in all stages of our progress.

We work with Monash Council (staff & councillors) to promote tennis by:

  • Complying with (often exceeding) the requirements of the *Monash Active Sports Club Framework.
  • Good communication  - news items, safety issues, general feedback.
  • Providing detailed suggestions to improve and promote local tennis, such as:
  • 2017                  *OTC-NOTC merge and relocation to Caloola Reserve.
  • 2023                 *Refurbishment of the 3 old NOTC courts.
  • 2024                 *A new 8-court tennis facility at Hurst Reserve.  

Council responds to our feedback and runs *OTC news stories in its monthly “Monash Bulletin”.

We maintain excellent communication/relationships with our local State MPs (Steve Dimopoulos) & *Federal MPs (Clare O’Neil).

We actively support other WDTA/Monash tennis clubs.  Following our lengthy and detailed lease negotiations, OTC’s president (also a WDTA committee member), set up a WDTA working group which successfully helped the other clubs to collectively negotiate their upcoming lease agreements.

Q5

Demonstrate the club's membership retention and participation growth (number of unique participants) including pathways for junior and adult tennis players and social play options.

OTC’s *Club Health Overview (performed monthly since 2019) demonstrates RETENTION AND OUTSTANDING GROWTH in membership, court bookings, competition team entries, social tennis, school bookings & coaching participants.

Our VTA coaching team is headed by *VTA’s Head Coach Tina Keown – Tennis Australia’s 2024 Coaching Excellence (Club or Centre) Award winner.

VTA offers a wide range of high-quality programs and pathways for both juniors and adults of all ages, abilities and interests:

  • Hot Shots:                                     
  • 150 juniors weekly.
  • Fun & engaging skills development for children aged 3-12.
  • Cardio Tennis:                            
  • 75+ unique participants annually.
  • Heart-pumping, fitness-focussed, fun, social workouts.
  • Junior Performance:              
  • 30+ participants weekly.
  • The pathway for older juniors progressing to competitive athletes, focussing on skill refinement and match play.
  • Adult Coaching:
  • 125 unique participants annually.
  • Group lessons, private coaching, and clinics tailored to various skill levels.
  • Competition tennis:
  • 64 teams entered in 2024, with 100+ participants per week.
  • 23 Summer, 8 Autumn (night), 24 Winter, 9 Spring (night) teams.
  • Matches played on Saturday & Sunday mornings, Saturday afternoons, Monday, Tuesday & Thursday nights.
  • WDTA, BDNTA & TV Men’s & Ladies’ Pennant competitions.
  • Tournaments:
  • 350 participants across 11 UTR tournaments per year.
  • Club championships run every year.
  • Social Tennis:
  • 100+ participants per week.
  • All ages and standards catered for in a friendly, welcoming atmosphere.
  • 6 organised social tennis events (3-5 courts), on:
  • Monday, Wednesday, Friday & Sunday mornings.
  • Saturday afternoons.
  • Wednesday evenings.
  • Member and non-member casual court bookings:
  • 956 unique users in 2023-24
  • Members and non-members can easily book courts at times that are not already locked in for other club uses.
  • OTC was Australia’s #1 Book-A-Court venue in 2024.

Our wide range of play offerings has driven our phenomenal growth, as we continually strive to satisfy the varying needs of local players, thus boosting participation.

Q6

Is your venue digitally enabled?

List the relevant digital tools your club uses:

  • Clubspark / membership management system

  • Book a Court / Igloo home lock / Court Hire system

  • Social Media

  • Website

  • Online payment for services

  • Other (please specify below)

List other digital tools, or provide additional detail about the tools you are using:

Oakleigh Tennis Club utilizes the following digital tools to enhance operations, member experience, and communication:

  • Membership Management System:

ClubSpark

for streamlined member registration, management and communication(emailing members).

  • Court Hire System:

Book-A-Court

for convenient court reservations.

  • Social Media:

Facebook

https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100057288255459

for promoting club activities and engaging with our community.

  • Website:

play.tennis.com.au/OakleighTennisClub

Our regularly-updated website is the primary source of ALL information about our club.

All official club documentation is stored on the website, which includes the following pages:

  • Home
  • About Us
  • Membership
  • Book-A-Court
  • Competition
  • VTA Coaching
  • Contacts
  • Social Tennis
  • Volunteer Roles
  • News
  • Picture Gallery

These web pages can have up to 7 sub-pages each, and a full Website Content Summary can be seen in Attachment 1.

  • Online Payment:

Secure online payment options exist for club services and fees.

Memberships are paid directly into our club’s bank account, which allows our membership team to check membership applications for correctness and completeness or offer discounts (where warranted) before manually approving them.  This also saves the club a significant amounts in Stripe fees.

  • Coaching Booking System:

Mindbody

for easy registration and management of coaching sessions.

  • Coaching Management Software:

Tennisbiz

to efficiently manage coaching classes and administrative tasks.

  • Internal Communications Platform:

OTC’s VTA coaches use Monday.com

for seamless communication and team collaboration.

OTC’s committee uses emails and WhatsApp for internal communications.

We have invested in our own domain name which allows us to have dedicated email addresses such as:

info@oakleightennisclub.com.au    (accessible by all committee members)

president@oakleightennisclub.com.au

vicepresident1@oakleightennisclub.com.au

vicepresident2@oakleightennisclub.com.au

secretary@oakleightennisclub.com.au

treasurer@oakleightennisclub.com.au

The club has also purchased laptops for our President, 2x Vice-Presidents, Secretary and Treasurer, so all club information and email communications resides on these devices, which will also aid in smoother succession handovers in the future.

By using these digital tools, OTC ensures a well-connected and efficiently managed environment, fostering member satisfaction and club growth.

Q7

When thinking about the nomination period, what is the highlight for the club/centre that you are most proud of?

What makes the club/centre the most outstanding?

Our 2024 highlight was being recognised as *Australia’s #1 Book-A-Court venue, and Tennis Australia’s media event at OTC in October, celebrating our part in reaching 1,000,000 nationally-booked hours.

This recognition is very special to us, as our #1 aim has always been to MAXIMISE PARTICIPATION, be it competition, social tennis, coaching, tournaments, member bookings or casual non-member hire.

It underlines the outstanding growth we have achieved in all the areas since relocating to our new facility in 2019, especially the following massive measurable increases:

2018-19           2023-24

116                  672                              Memberships             

26                    64                                Competition teams

106                  246                              Coaching (average number of participants per term)           

0                      17,423                         Book-A-Court participation (hours booked)                          

$38,049           $327,811 (current)      Club Savings                                                                           

Our recently-gained status the venue with Australia’s most Book-A-Court hours for 2024 confirmed that all the hard work our volunteers, coaches and members have put in is helping us achieve our core goals (especially #2), as laid out in *our constitution, which (summarised) are to:

  1. Provide a safe, well-maintained tennis environment.
  2. PROMOTE TENNIS TO ANY INTERESTED PERSON.
  3. Arrange competition tennis for our members.
  4. Provide coaching for any interested person.
  5. Arrange social activities for our members.

Another highlight was *winning WDTA’s Premier Club Award, based on the average ladder position of all our teams compared to the 38 other clubs in the Summer 2024-25 competition.

Monash Council’s agreement with our 2017 proposal to relocate the newly-merged Oakleigh & North Oakleigh Tennis Clubs to a new tennis facility at Caloola Reserve presented a massive and challenging change for us, but we are always willing to innovate, as we constantly seek ways to promote and accommodate the ever-increasing tennis participation in our area.  

Our recent success was NOT a 1-year effort, but the culmination of the journey that OTC has been on since 2017. 

Our answers to these questions and the attachments aim to sufficiently illuminate that journey.