LIAM PHILLIPS
TRINITY Old Scholars is a name synonymous with Gawler sport, and now it has dipped its toe into the tennis world as the first TOSers tennis team made a winning debut in its October season-opener.
The idea was the brainchild of old scholar Michael Burdelof, who admits that the process of getting a team ready on short notice has been a bit of a whirlwind.
“It was September this year, I got in contact with Rod Selleck, the head of tennis at Trinity, and he thought it was a great idea as well,” Burdelof said.
“So we thought let’s just find out the level of interest and go from there.
“It was really just me contacting friends and (tennis players) that I knew, because we only had a matter of a week or so to nominate the teams, so it wasn’t much time to get communication out.”
Despite the short notice and the scramble to fill a team, Burdelof says he was pleased with the response, and that he expects numbers to continue to grow next season.
“We feel that there’s lots of players in the Trinity community that will want to play tennis next year,” he said.
“When students leave Trinity after year 12, if they want to stay on and have that link indirectly with the school, we’d love for them to come play for Trinity Old Scholars.
“But we’re not exclusive, so if there’s someone with a friend who wants to play for us, they don’t have to be an old scholar.
“We certainly don’t want to be taking players from other teams or anything like that, it’s not about that, it’s just about getting people on the court that normally wouldn’t play.”
This theme of inclusion, and getting people active, was at the centre of all discussions about this new venture.
“We were close to having two teams, but we certainly didn’t want to overcommit and be in a position where we’re forfeiting,” he said.
“But we’re pretty confident next year we’ll have a second team, and maybe a third.
“The main idea is to get people out who might not be able to commit to a full season of tennis, only able to play a few games here and there, and we just want them coming out and training with us and having fun, getting people off the lounge and onto the tennis courts.”
If you are interested in joining, contact their Facebook page at Trinity Old Scholars Tennis Club, or Michael Burdelof at michaelburdelof@gmail.com.