St Bernadette's Tennis Club is, as you might guess from the name, associated with the local Catholic Church.

In Melbourne, and perhaps in much of Australia, tennis clubs were often begun around churches. They were begun as a way of keeping those of the same religion together, and avoiding 'mixed marriages'. They had the advantage that, as church properties, they did not have to pay rates, so that playing tennis was an affordable recreation for anyone.

Thirty or forty years ago some of these clubs were very big, and tennis was a weekend pursuit. Competition matches were played on Saturdays, and Sunday was the Social day. In the club to which I belonged, Sacred Heart, Kew, there was a court captain, and people would turn up and be put into matches, with long sociable waits between sets. Every month there was a mixed doubles tournament, with 48 players, and you would almost need to put your name down the month before to get into it.
The only other sports played to any extent would have been cricket in the summer, and Australian Rules football in the winter, and netball all year.

As well as the church clubs, local councils have long provided free land for sporting clubs, and many clubs would spring up in this way, many of these also sponsored by churches.

There is a hierarchy of clubs. The church clubs are generally more social, and there are clubs which specialise in higher grades of tennis. These would often restrict their membership on the basis of ability, and would charge higher fees (often because they did have to pay rates, etc.) These days a lot of the distinctions are blurred, and any club can enter VTA (Victorian Tennis association) teams if their courts are of a sufficient standard.

The clubs which are centred around churches have generally abandoned any restriction on membership, and do not even ask the religious affiliation of those who join. All have had a drop in numbers because of:
*competition from other sports, especially basketball and netball. Also people can travel more easily, and can go surfing, etc. Forty years ago not everyone had a car.
*the end of the five-day working week. The Saturday competitions are dwindling because so many potential players now work on the weekend, but there is a rapid growth in night tennis, as many clubs are getting lights. We have lights on two of our four courts now.

This is our Clubhouse:

and this is a 3D view of it from the side...

The clubhouse is on our list for improvement, but this is it now! Our immediate plan is to turn that nice grass into concrete! (And then an extension of the Clubhouse). We have four courts, which are made of en tout cas, which is a surface of crushed brick, probably similar to clay. This is the usual surface around Melbourne, but mod grass and hard surfaces are beginning to creep in. (En tout cas is what everyone calls it, but as in a lot of other instances, the name is actually a registered name, so other court repairers refer to it as "red porous material.")


The club amalgamated in 1986 with a nearby parish* which lost its courts, and has had a healthy membership since.

The Victorian Catholic Lawn Tennis Association of Victoria, in whose competition we had been playing for years, has linked up with the Melbourne Churches Tennis Association.

Our number of teams had been dwindling, so this gives the competition a boost in number of sections as well as teams, but we have not played VCLTA for quite a while now.

The VCLTA covers a wide area, so that matches could have teams driving over an hour to matches. This also gives the organisers a chance to localise the sections a bit more. Matches are played on Saturdays

We play in:

Heidelberg Districts. This is a more local competition, played on Saturday afternoons.

Victorian Tennis Association. This is the major Victorian pennant. We have gone from a great start with four teams to none currently.

NEJTA: The local junior competition, played on Saturday mornings. Nine teams currently.

Night competition: Men's doubles on Tuesday nights (we have five teams), women on Wednesday nights (three team), mixed doubles Thursdays (one team)..