The Australian Open got underway on Sunday but the excitement of the summer of tennis arrived in Narrabri even earlier as Narrabri Tennis hosted a school holiday clinic last week.
The clinic ran from Monday through to Thursday under the guidance of club professional and level two coach Shane Murphy, who was assisted by four junior players including George Bennett, Jack and Sophie Hartnett and Alistair Dowdell.
Murphy told The Courier that it was an enjoyable week, and he was pleased to see plenty of new faces on court.
“It was a good week even though we had a run it with heat, and a bit of rain and wind on Tuesday,” he said.
“We had a mix of core regulars and a lot of new faces.
“We got through the program and had a really good time.
“Once again, we connected the dots as the week went on. We did basic forehand and rally play on Monday, then we continued the ground strokes on Tuesday by doing some forehand revision and introducing backhands, then on Wednesday we went into starting the rallies by looking at the types of serves we can use, and then on Thursday we brought it all together with a bit of net play.
“We encompass pretty much the majority of the tennis skills that you need to be a decent player, and there was plenty of fun too.”
This year’s January clinic ran using an Australian Open theme and was sponsored by Weet-Bix.
“Tennis Australia and Weet-Bix sent out little booklets and colouring-in activities and certificates, and a lot of our younger participants really liked that,” Murphy said.
“We were having a few little chats about the Open and we were talking about who our favourite players are.
“The kids were excited by it all, which was very good.”
Murphy and his daughter Charlotte attended the Australian Open this week. After flying out from Tamworth on Sunday, they attended Monday, Monday night and Tuesday sessions, watching stars such as Aussie Talia Gibson, Matteo Berrettini, Cameron Norrie, Belinda Bencic and Jelena Ostapenko on various outside courts, and Novak Djokovic and Naomi Osaka on centre court.
They also got to watch Australian hero Alex de Minaur practising in the lead-up to his straight-sets first-round victory over Botic Van de Zandschulp.
Narrabri Tennis’ coaching for 2025 will begin on Monday, February 17, but Murphy will host earlier sessions for players who wish to prepare for the North West Regional Matchplay Series campaign, which kicks off in Armidale on Sunday, February 9.
Narrabri will host two RMS events during the year on Sunday, April 6 and Sunday, August 17.
