Beechworth Lawn Tennis Club Proposed Upgrade Overview
New Beechworth Tennis Courts
What is happening at the club?
The Beechworth Lawn Tennis Club members have voted to begin the process of selling the current court site which the club have owned continuously since the 1930s. The vote was also taken to put the majority of the proceeds into the development of four new all-weather courts, fencing, lighting, services and clubhouse. The club has asked that Indigo Shire Council allocates some Crown Land at Baarmutha Park to be used as the venue for this new sporting facility.
Why are we doing this?
The current BLTC facilities have been slipping into disrepair for many years now and are in extremely poor condition. The seven grass courts require enormous amounts of maintenance and preparation to play on, and the hundreds of volunteer hours for this to happen have not been available for over twenty years. It is only with the generous devotion to the cause of the few BLTC members, and Beechworth Correctional Centre work gangs, that the four clay courts are kept in some near playable condition. These sub-standard courts have made it difficult to maintain a membership base and recruit new members to the club. Despite this we currently have over fifty members on our books, but the major problem is that we cannot attract a professional couching program or programs to use our courts. This means that young and teenage players have nowhere to receive coaching, and this means that there is no competition for them to play in. Over the last twenty years, due to a range of blockages and unsupportive attitudes external to the club, Beechworth has let down an entire generation of potential young players. The club don’t want this to continue. The time has come to develop four brand new, all-weather courts and a modern clubroom. The proposed courts will be low maintenance and long lasting, providing tennis facilities for the Beechworth and wider community and tourists for the next hundred years.
Once the facility is established the club will be able to tap into the vast range of resources that are available through Tennis Victoria and Tennis Australia to make Beechworth Tennis Club one of the best in the country. Get on board!!