ITS grass courts were under water for 15 weeks and floods destroyed its hard courts, but Mildura Lawn Tennis Club will beat the odds and bounce back into action on Wednesday.
Club president Aaron Wilkie said there was still work to be done before the summer season starts next month, but 10 months after it disappeared beneath historic flooding, the Hugh King Drive facility is now open to members and accepting hire bookings.
He said it was the result of months of fundraising and hard work by club members, volunteers and curator Zak Boussekkine.
“It’s really positive that the club’s getting back together, we’re going to get into the summer season, do some big fundraisers and it’ll be good to see everyone back on the courts,” Wilkie said.
The club will be ready for the season’s scheduled opening round on October 7.
Floodwaters from the rapidly rising Murray River inundated the facility last November, causing extensive damage.
“The grass courts have bounced back pretty well considering they were under water for 15 weeks,” Wilkie said.
“We have some work to do with the building but at this rate, we expect that to be all good by October 7, which is our opening day for the summer season.”
Court hire and members’ bookings are available from today after the curator and volunteers deployed the string and paint last weekend to get the courts ready for play.
Last November, Wilkie had only just started in the role of club president when floodwaters engulfed the club’s courts, carpark and clubhouse, but he could still see the lighter side.
“We’ve got a giant swimming pool now. We’ll be able to have water polo there next week,” he told Sunraysia Daily at the time.
He also accurately predicted the hard courts would probably be ruined but the grass courts could be expected to “come back pretty good”.
This week, he told the paper the clubhouse’s upstairs hall had been given the all-clear by Mildura Council, which meant it was now available for public hire.
“We had a little bit of help from the State Government, we got $25000 worth of grants at the start and we’re hoping for another $25,000 to top-dress the courts and level the back up, but apart from that it was just some fundraising,” Wilkie said.
“We’re just trying to get some money back into the club, because we lost about $60,000to 70,000 after the floods.”
The club has staged fundraising events, including a Bunnings sausage sizzle, to help get the facility back up and running.
“The lawn courts (four hard and four synthetic) weren’t the worst but the hard courts are buggered … I’d probably say a million-plus dollars would be needed to replace those… revamping them will depend on council and insurance though so we’re not sure at this stage.”
The club had 180 members when the floods hit last year and aimed to boost numbers with a “come and try” day on October 28. That event will feature both the men’s and women’s Australian Open trophies as part of a three-day tour hosted by Tennis Victoria.
Despite early fears that the club’s regular large scale tournaments would be affected after their absence last season, Wilkie said two major events would be back including the under-12 and under-14 Australian Grasscourt Championships and the Mildura Grand International, which have attracted top talent in the past.
“Ash Barty and Sam Groth started here, we normally get some big names,” Wilkie said.
The Grasscourt Championships are scheduled for January 2 to 6, an event that will boast the country’s most talented tennis players under the age of 14.
Meanwhile, the Mildura Grand International was expected to be held in late March, but more details will be finalised closer to the date.
Casual bookings can be made online for the courts from Wednesday onwards.
