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    COMMUNITY SPIRIT: Pomonal Tennis Club president Michelle Stewart and Australian tennis great John Fitzgerald lift the Daphne Akhurst Memorial Cup and Norman Brookes Challenge Cup at Pomonal Tennis Club on Sunday. Picture: PAUL CARRACHER
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    East Grampians Health chief executive Nick Bush, Pomonal Tennis Club president Michelle Stewart and Australian tennis great John Fitzgerald and Ararat Blue Ribbon Foundation's Dianne Radford with the Norman Brookes Challenge Cup and Daphne Akhurst Memorial Cup at Pomonal Tennis Club
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    Pomonal Tennis Club president Michelle Stewart and Australian tennis great John Fitzgerald with the Daphne Akhurst Memorial Cup and Norman Brookes Challenge Cup at Pomonal Tennis Club
  • Hero image
    Pomonal Tennis Club president Michelle Stewart and Australian tennis great John Fitzgerald with the Daphne Akhurst Memorial Cup and Norman Brookes Challenge Cup at Pomonal Tennis Club
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    Pomonal Tennis Club president Michelle Stewart and Australian tennis great John Fitzgerald open the refurbished courts at Pomonal.

Day of celebration at Pomonal Tennis Club

By Colin MacGillivray

It was a day of celebration in Pomonal on Sunday as the town reopened its tennis courts with a visit from the Australian Open tennis trophies and seven-time grand slam winner John Fitzgerald.

Mr Fitzgerald, who was one of the world’s best doubles tennis players in the 1980s and ’90s and achieved a career grand slam, said he was thrilled to see so many people turn out for the opening of the newly resurfaced courts, calling Pomonal ‘a place after my own heart’.

“I grew up in a small regional community in South Australia called Cockaleechie a long way west of Adelaide,” he said.



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“I understand what communities like this are about.

“I love this type of community, and tennis can bring communities together. That’s what it did for our community, and I can see that’s what it’s done here.

“What the locals have done here to upgrade these courts is quite phenomenal I think.”

The project to resurface the court was funded by Ararat Rural City Council, with a $20,000 contribution from the Blue Ribbon Foundation.

Ararat company SHS Civil completed the works, removing the existing seal and subgrade, extracting roots with potential to cause future damage to the courts, and replacing the base with 220mm of fine crushed rock before sealing with asphalt.

Pomonal Tennis Club president Michelle Stewart said the project had a galvanising effect on the community as it continued to recover from a devastating bushfire at the start of the year.

“It’s amazing that our community has pulled together to achieve this,” she said.

“It’s a fantastic community gathering point for us – we have people coming down to play tennis and we have other people come down just to enjoy socialising.

“The community is still recovering, but having these types of activities and places for the community to go to really helps glue them together and helps us keep moving forward.

“We have about 115 members and there are about 300 people in the community, so it’s a really well received club.” Ms Stewart said attendees enjoyed hearing Mr Fitzgerald tell stories of his time on the professional tennis tour.

Mr Fitzgerald said he was proud to be part of the town’s recovery.

“People come together. They have to. A lot of regional places in Australia have suffered fires and … sometimes it instigates effort and people come together,” he said.

“It’s a good human trait.”

The entire October 30, 2024 edition of The Weekly Advertiser is available online. READ IT HERE!

The entire October, 30, 2024 edition of AgLife is available online. READ IT HERE!