By LIAM TWOMEY
GREEN Gully Tennis Club will host two special guests this week.
As part of its involvement in the Australian Open Blitz, the club will welcome the men’s and women’s Australian Open trophies.
The event will take place on Thursday from 6pm at the club.
Green Gully committee member Chris Saliba said it is going to be a big thrill to have the trophies on site.
“It is great. It has already created a lot of excitement among the juniors and we have seen a lot of them register for the Australian Open Blitz,” he said.
“It … really shows the community the size of events we can cater for and the facilities we have got. Hopefully that will lead to more people signing up and playing competition, having memberships and taking up coaching.”
The Australian Open Blitz is a national competition, run by Tennis Australia, that allows both new and experienced players the chance to win major prizes.
There is also the chance to have a player in the 2014 Australian Open draw to represent Green Gully.
The arrival of the Australian Open trophies continues what has been an exciting time for Green Gully with the club hitting winners both on and off the court.
“It (our membership) is definitely going upwards which is good,” Saliba said.
“We have about 150 odd members at the moment and we are hoping to get over 200. Over the past 12 months the committee has been doing a lot of improvements to the club.
“We are about to put in a pergola and an electric barbecue just to help with the whole social side of tennis as well and we are also about to re-surface four of our courts.
“Hopefully that means we will see a spike in memberships and people down at the courts which is great.”
Saliba said everyone in the community is welcome to visit the club and join in the fun of the Australian Open Blitz.
“This a community event for the whole community and we encourage as many people as possible to come along and enjoy it. There will be a barbecue, tennis activities, speed serving and music so it will be a great family event.”
