They follow Shepparton District Tennis Association, which returned to the court last weekend, meaning a full slate of tennis matches will be going ahead in the Goulburn Valley for the first time in season 2022-23.
This will be the second round of SJTA action this season after it managed to get one weekend of fixtures away on Saturday, October 8 — with the cancellation of rounds two and three meaning this weekend will be round four.
While Saturday will mark the beginning of the GMLTA season, with the first two rounds being washouts before a scheduled Melbourne Cup bye last weekend.
Starting the season at what was scheduled to be round three GMLTA president Mark Mills was brimming with excitement to finally get the new campaign under way.
“It will be really good to get back out on the court this weekend, obviously some people have been really effected (by the floods) and others not so much, but as a community we have all felt the impact in some way,” Mills said.
“So I think we definitely made the right decision to postpone those first two scheduled rounds so people could defend their homes or help those who were in a bit of trouble.
“But things have calmed down a bit now and I think this weekend is the perfect time to get back out and give everyone a bit of a mental break from what has been going on.”
It won’t be a completely normal return to action for the GMLTA, with Shepparton Lawn and Mooroopna Lawn tennis clubs unable to host matches for the foreseeable future.
Mills explained the plan moving forward to ensure teams based at those two clubs would be able to get back on court.
“We haven’t 100 per cent locked something in yet, but we think they will be able to base out of Tatura or Cobram who have both offered their courts,” he said.
“The other option is those teams just play away games up until Christmas, switching their fixtures to away games, meaning that once the courts are back up and running they will play those matches at home.”
The SJTA faces as similar conundrum with teams based at Shepparton Lawn.
In an email sent out to all clubs on Tuesday it was confirmed all matches scheduled for those flood-effected teams would be moved to the McEwen Reserve hardcourts until further notice.
While the past three weeks have been incredibly challenging for all in the region, Mills said it had been wonderful to see a number of clubs extend the olive branch to those heavily-impacted, offering up spare courts to play and train on.
“Obviously those clubs in trouble have taken a huge hit and those other clubs have been wonderful in offering up spare courts to ensure everyone can have a hit,” he said.
“It shows the great community spirit we have here in the region and as a president it’s great to see our league working together.” .
