Tennis coaches are in such short supply across parts of regional Victoria that in some country towns, grassroots clubs have no instructors to teach lessons and nurture the next generation of sporting champions.
Swan Hill in north-west Victoria boasts more than 50 courts and is home to one of the world's largest lawn tennis clubs, but there has not been an instructor in the regional city since its only coach relocated to Melbourne more than a year ago.
Club president Christian Devlin said finding a replacement was proving near impossible.
"There is a small amount of coaches and large demand," Mr Devlin said.
"We'd like to think we have been reasonably proactive trying to find a coach, but they aren't growing on trees."
Tennis Australia said there were as many as 3,000 accredited tennis instructors throughout the country, a third of whom worked in Victoria.
But the governing body said numbers had declined over the course of the pandemic and regional areas had been hit the hardest.
Mr Devlin said the rental shortage in smaller towns had also meant country tennis was not an option for many instructors.
"It is a little bit frustrating to know we have such good facilities but we haven't got a coach to take full advantage of that and give the kids the best possible pathway to tennis," he said.
Other clubs in same boat
The Swan Hill club's predicament is one being repeated in regional centres throughout the state.
Ararat, Orbost, Kerang and Mallacoota are all without coaches, and several other country towns get by with only one instructor.
Curtis Fitzgerald, who works as a tennis coach in Barwon Heads, said the shortage would make it difficult to meet demand for lessons.
He said his club, which is about 100 kilometres from Melbourne, had to compete for coaching staff with larger tennis centres.
"We have had a couple of coaches who have gone to the city now," he said.
"We are trying to find another coach and we are struggling with that — it can be hard."
Mr Devlin said Swan Hill's tennis club committee had been looking far and wide for a new coach, including on social media, in community newsletters and through official tennis bodies.
"You certainly need to be resilient," he said.
"It is not just a matter of putting an ad up and having 20 people apply. You really need to seek them out."
Challenges for coaches
Coach Stephen Storer, who works full-time in Bendigo, often runs tennis clinics in places affected by the shortage such as Colbinabbain, Axedale, and Bridgewater.
He said it was rewarding work but the transient nature of regional coaching made it difficult for some to commit to.
"When you're a full-time coach it's really for you to lay the foundation for the work that you do and build the interest for the club," he said.
"For the regional towns, the work is a little more seasonal … during the winter a lot of places have football or netball and a lot of players gravitate towards that."
"Coaches from [larger] towns like Bendigo can offer clinics in the summer but when winter comes around a lot of other sports take over."
Situation improving
Tennis Australia's director of coaching Adam Carey said there were several areas in regional Victoria where people had no access to coaching but the shortages were no different to what other industries were facing post-pandemic.
He said Tennis Australia was trying to build stronger relationships with regional clubs so it could help them deal with the ongoing challenge.
He pointed to a recent example in which regional tennis managers had supported a Shepparton club in developing promotional material to attract more coaches to the area.
"We want to increase the number of coaches operating in our country but also improve the quality of delivery," Mr Carey said.
"Part of our targeting for the future is to look at the regional communities and their need for coaches and how we can support those areas effectively."
He said enrolments in coaching courses were increasing as disruption from the pandemic lessened and that Tennis Australia was also looking to further boost numbers through more flexible accreditation options.
"We are seeing some really healthy numbers coming out of our courses [and] we believe we are on track to be where we used to be pre-COVID."
