MILDURA Lawn Tennis Club (MLTC) coach Bill Madafferi has welcomed the return of tennis after the Victorian Government relaxed social distancing laws this week.
Madafferi was back on court on Wednesday, coaching from his home and hoping competition could also return in the coming weeks.
“We are back – yes we are back,” an excited Madafferi said.
The former professional has been in limbo, his coaching business shut down and all competition halted, as the Victorian Government placed the state into lock down to curb the spread of virus.
But this week’s announcement by Premier Daniel Andrews was welcome news for Madafferi and other tennis coaches around the state as we start to get back to normality.
“We sent a message out to all of our students and their parents this week when we got the news about the relaxing of the restrictions and have had a great response,” Madafferi said.
“At the moment I’m doing private and group lessons from home.
“We’ve put some pretty strict protocols in place to ensure the safety of everyone and to ensure we meet the guidelines the government has put in place.”
Part of those strict guidelines Madaferri has put in place are ensuring no more than four players are on court at any time and providing hand sanitisers for everyone.
Madafferi joined other coaches from around the state in a special Zoom hook-up with Tennis Victoria officials last week to discuss the guidelines around the return of tennis.
“It was a great opportunity to share a few ideas and discuss how different tennis centres were coping,” said Madafferi.
“It has been a really challenging and difficult time for everyone.
“Tennis is a sport, but as coaches it is also our business and our livelihood.
“We’ve been affected like many other businesses around Australia, but it’s just great to be back out on the court – it brings a bit of normality back to your life and it’s great to see people smiling and enjoying hitting a tennis ball again.”
Madafferi, who is also the president of the Sunraysia District Tennis Association (SDTA), is not sure when or if winter tennis will go ahead in 2020, but he is looking at running alternative events to get people playing.
“At this stage we aren’t in a position to say if we will get a season in,” said Madafferi.
“If we don’t then we might be able to look at some alternative formats – maybe even running sectional-type competitions, but until they lift the restrictions further it’s difficult to put a time frame on things.”
Tennis Victoria has released a list of guidelines for coaches and tennis clubs to follow which includes not having gatherings of more than 10 people and maintaining a social distance of 1.5m.
Anyone who is interested in tennis lessons can contact 0419 572 210.
