Durban - The La Lucia Tennis Club will host a men’s and women’s doubles tournament next week to raise funds to improve their facility and provide young tennis players access to high-quality facilities.
“The primary intention of our tournament is to raise funds for numerous maintenance and enhancement projects that La Lucia Tennis Club has identified. It is a key event not only to solicit donations and sponsorships for the tournament so that we don’t have to spend anything – and proceeds are pure profit. This is the intention, at least,” said chairperson Sebastian Stock.
Stock said tournaments like these were essential because tennis clubs generally struggled to keep up with expenses, so he hoped for a positive turnout.
He said they had noticed “with some wariness” that Padel tennis ‒ a cross between tennis and squash ‒ seemed to be taking South Africa by storm.
“Unfortunately, developers have found this quite lucrative. I have been approached on numerous occasions to see if our club would consider converting some of its courts into Padel tennis courts, but given we have recently resurfaced our courts, and we need all our courts for tournaments and league events, we are not interested,” he said.
Stock added that the club wanted to offer a less expensive option for players, especially those economically disadvantaged, and he hoped this tournament would aid that cause.
Funds will contribute to the following:
- Ten free-standing horizontal outdoor units on the perimeter of the club to help with a stream of income through outdoor advertising. Stock said this would also help with replacing their ageing fencing.
- Development of an online booking system that links payment to secure/safe, especially after-hours court access, and includes floodlight activation.
- An off-grid power source so players had reliable lights to play at any time.
- Improve court maintenance equipment, pressure cleaners, squeegees, etc.
“Our tournament could be the springboard to great things. I hope South African companies can join together and make my vision for La Lucia Tennis Club a reality,” he said.
During the tournament, the La Lucia Tennis Club will host a raffle draw, and braai facilities will be available. The club aims to generate between R100 000 and R200 000 from the weekend.
For more information, contact Sebastian Stock at sdstock@mweb.co.za
The Independent on Saturday