After being named the WRTA Men’s Pennant One Most Consistent Player for the home and away season, Cambridge’s Darren Christensen took to the court on Saturday in the grand final against Liston. 86178_08 Picture: MATHEW LYNN
By LIAM TWOMEY
SATURDAY marked the biggest day of the season for players competing in the Western Region Tennis Association with grand finals taking place at a number of venues.
For WRTA administrator Daniel Pivato, Saturday also brought an end one of the most highly participated seasons in the senior competition for a number of years.
Pivato couldn’t pinpoint exactly what caused the spike in numbers but said it was great to see.
“The only thing I can attribute that to is clubs pulling together and fielding teams in a more coordinated manner than they have in the past,” he said.
“From an association level we have encouraged clubs to think about the bigger picture. That is if they don’t get coordinated at a club level in regards to teams there won’t be any competition.
“The other thing I think the clubs have done… is they have picked up on juniors and made a concerted effort to encourage the older junior members to play senior tennis and keep them in tennis.
“We have found that has been a trend in the last two or three years.”
While senior finals are now wrapped up, it’s time for the juniors to take centre stage as they enter the final rounds of their season.
Despite seeing a positive increase in senior numbers, juniors have remained largely the same for the past few seasons.
Pivato said it was important for clubs to maintain good facilities in order to attract and maintain juniors.
“I’m sure that’s the same with football, netball, cricket and hockey. I think in tennis we are quite conscious of that and we encourage clubs to think about the long term future of players in the area,” he said.
“The association has encouraged all clubs to improve and maintain club facilities. If your facilities are good then you have a better chance of increasing and improving membership.
“If your club facilities are poor then members will think twice about re-joining the club.”
