Anyone for Tennis?

When I was growing up and before starting at school I was something of a tennis brat. My mother would drag me around the suburban courts in Melbourne where she would play with a group of friends while I was happily left to my own devices to mess around with the other kids. Those friends of my mother were to become lifelong friends and my father would have a similar group of tennis friends. He continued to play social tennis right up to very recently. A hip replacement and a body closing in on 90 years of age has put an end to charging around the court. His greatest disappointment in this is the loss of social engagement that tennis brought to his life.

Later on I had a few lessons and played in a couple of tournaments. Never a champion it was a game I enjoyed but more importantly it was a great way to meet girls. Summers were spent by the beach and if we weren’t sailing on Port Phillip Bay we would be found on some local tennis court. It became part of the soundtrack of our summers. Several years later with my three young sons we played tennis constantly at the International Resort on Magnetic Island. Games and scoring was a little random. For us it was more about bashing the crap out of the tennis balls.

I now travel regularly throughout regional Queensland and discovering abandoned tennis courts has become something of a treasure hunt for me. I can’t think of a single town where I have not found one. They become carparks, a place to dump rubbish or simply left for the weeds to take over. Racquets are discarded, nets left to rot and faded scores from the last game still chalked up on a wall.

What does this say about tennis in Australia? Well it’s hard to say. We do currently have the womens world number one thanks to Ash Barty but the mens side is a far cry from the glory days of the 1960s and ‘70s. To me it says more about the state of regional Australia.

It is the loss of social connectedness and community cohesion. The humble tennis court throughout regional Australia has been a place were friends and relationships have been formed. People stay fit and mental health issues can be reduced. Industrial agriculture is pushing traditional family farmers off the land and the young are gravitating to the cities looking for opportunity. There are fewer and fewer people around to partner up and have a game. The weed covered court is an ever present reminder of this changing social landscape in Australia.

 Anyone for tennis…?

 He calls out over the dusty plains, the once mighty river or the stockyards in disrepair.