WINTER tennis will serve off on July 11 after the Sunraysia District Tennis Association (SDTA) decided on a round 1 start date at a special committee meeting on Thursday night.
The SDTA has confirmed it will play an eight-round season with no finals.
The premier team will be the side on top of the ladder at the completion of the home-and-away season, a system used in Premier League soccer in the United Kingdom.
The format change is designed to ensure the season is completed before the September school holidays.
SDTA president Bill Madafferi said he was excited about the return of competition tennis.
“We have said all along once COVID-19 restrictions were relaxed we would be able to commit to a start date,” Madafferi said.
“The government’s announcement in the past week around community sport has given us the opportunity to get our season started.”
Like all other community sport throughout Sunraysia, tennis has been on hold because of the coronavirus pandemic, but with the number of coronavirus cases remaining low, state and territory governments have been slowly relaxing restrictions.
Madafferi said matches would continue to be played on Saturday afternoons with the Premier League again the top division.
“We are confident of having at least five teams in our Premier League … but that could be six depending on numbers,” he said.
“There are some new players who have come to the district who are keen to play and there are also some players who have indicated they would like to step up to the top competition.
“As a committee we are just excited that we will be back out playing tennis on a regular basis again – it’s great from a social aspect and great for the clubs and everyone involved in the game of tennis.”
No decision on the junior competition has been made.
