SUMMER HIT FOR PEOPLE

THE Domain Tennis Centre will shift its focus to community engagement this summer after last week’s disappointing announcement the Hobart International would not be held this summer.

In a blow for the state’s summer of tennis, it was revealed the Hobart, Launceston, and Burnie Internationals would not take place because of uncertainty created by the pandemic.

Domain Centre manager Edward Bourchier said he was disappointed, but hoped to use the opportunity to run more summer programs and attract more locals to the sport.

“It’s certainly disappointing that this has happened for the second consecutive year as those three tournaments bring in world class tennis to Tassie and top 100 players, which is hard to get,” Bourchier said.

“[This] gives us the opportunity to focus on the tennis locally and provide more opportunity to get people involved in tennis at a local level.

“We’ve still got an exciting summer of local tennis lined up and we feel it’s really important to engage the local community.”

He said the centre had recently created a new position to help with community engagement over the summer and would focus on getting newcomers of all ages to the sport.

“The centre has invested in a tennis co-ordinator and will be providing additional programs to really focus on attracting new participants to the sport,” Bourchier said.

“We’re going to have a focus on not just young kids but also adults and the less traditional players who may have thought about playing tennis before but have never tried it, and also players who haven’t played in a while that might want to get back into it.”

The Domain Tennis Centre will also host the Hobart Out competition from January 14-16, which is part of the Gay and Lesbian Tennis Alliance world tour and will feature singles and doubles competitions across five divisions for all levels of play.

jarrod.lawler@news.com.au