Wanaka’s Tennis Club (WTC) has joined three other nearby clubs to form the Southern Lakes Tennis Association, and Wanaka is hosting the association’s inaugural Senior Doubles Tournament next weekend (Saturday March 27).

The tournament will feature A and B Grade mens’ doubles and ladies doubles and it will also double as a club fundraiser with a silent auction and prizes for best dressed teams in the Wimbledon Whites Theme. 

The Southern Lakes Tennis Association, comprising the tennis clubs of Queenstown, Cromwell and Clyde, has long existed but not in a structured way with a formal committee, WTC president Jeanette Hatten said

“We wanted to put it on a more formal footing and establish guidelines and approaches,” she said.

The association’s committee has representatives from the Wanaka and Queenstown clubs, including their coaches, who decide which players participate in each competition. 

A grade winners from the club’s Wednesday social teams’ night competition (L-R) Will Lamb, Marc Magee, Claire Arkell and Joan Lloyd.

“We have squads who train together every now and then and it is from these players that the tournament squads are selected,” Jeanette said. 

She said the Junior Southern Lakes team, which featured more WTC players than ever before, did very well in the last regional tournament held in Dunedin, with the Under 10s winning for the first time, and Under 12s and Under 14s coming second. 

With the autumn tennis season in progress, some summer events come to a close as the club gears up for it’s annual championships followed by the annual Quadrangular tournament.

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The club’s social tennis teams event with 12 teams playing in two grades finished last week while players prepare for the singles, doubles and mixed doubles competition of the two-day WTC championships tournament, which runs from April 11-12. 

The annual event had to be cancelled last year due to Covid-19 but it usually attracts 35-40 players and the club’s hoping for more players this year, Jeanette said. Registrations for the championships close April 1.

Breenhomes will sponsor this year’s Quadrangular tournament. It will be hosted by the WTC from April 17-18 with teams of at least 12 players from tennis clubs in Southland, South Canterbury, North Otago and Wanaka.

Jeanette said the Quadrangular tournament, which also wasn’t held last year, “is quite a big deal with the other regions bringing at least 12 players and other partners. We play all day Saturday and Sunday morning, finishing with a lunch and prizegiving on Sunday.”

Heading into winter the club hopes to be able to extend its regular evening tennis when the long-awaited lights are eventually installed, Jeanette said.  

“The wiring and the lower posts have been put in but the actual lights and fittings have been delayed with shipping from overseas due to Covid,” she said.  

Next weekend’s inaugural tennis association tournament begins at 9:00am next Saturday and is open to the public.

The entry fee per team of two players includes an extensive buffet lunch. Team numbers will be limited and entries close Wednesday March 24.

For entries and any queries email Karen Mitchell at [email protected]. 

PHOTOS: Supplied