East Coburg Tennis Club

🎾 SCHOOL HOLIDAY PROGRAM IS BACK! 🎾

Looking for something active and fun for the kids these school holidays?

Join us at Elite Tennis Academy, East Coburg Tennis Club for three action-packed mornings of tennis, games, sport and plenty of fun!

📅 September 22, 23 & 24
⏰ 9:00am – 12:00pm
📍 East Coburg Tennis Club

It’s more than tennis! Kids will enjoy tennis plus basketball, cricket, soccer, dodgeball, netball, badminton and more.

✅ All abilities welcome
✅ Make new friends
✅ Stay active during the holidays
✅ Friendly, accredited coaches
✅ Safe and supervised environment
✅ All staff hold WWCC, First Aid and Child Safety training

🎾 Bring a hat, drink bottle, snack and racquet if you have one.

Spaces are limited – book early!

👉 www.elitetennis.com.au/programs

Swing into a world of play these school holidays! 💙💚

East Coburg Tennis Club

🎾 Help Us Make Tennis More Welcoming for Everyone

At East Coburg Tennis Club, we want everyone to feel safe, welcome and valued.

As part of our work with Tennis Australia and Tennis Victoria to strengthen inclusion, equity and respect — particularly for women and girls — we’re inviting our tennis community to complete a short 10-minute anonymous survey.

We’d love to hear from players, parents/carers, volunteers, coaches and visitors aged 18+.

Your feedback will help us understand what we’re doing well and where we can improve.

👉 Complete the survey https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/ZFP2LV3

📅 Please respond by Sunday 23 August.

Printed copies will also be available in the clubhouse.

Every voice helps us create a better tennis experience for everyone. 🎾
Elite Tennis Academy

🎾 JUNIOR UTR ROUND ROBIN – ENTRIES NOW OPEN! 🎾

Elite Tennis Academy is excited to be hosting our Junior UTR Round Robin at East Coburg Tennis Club these school holidays!

📅 Friday 2 October 2026
📍 East Coburg Tennis Club

A great opportunity for junior players to get plenty of competitive match play, build their experience and have their results count towards their UTR.

✅ UTR Rated
🎾 Round Robin Format
🔥 Multiple Matches Guaranteed
🏆 Prizes
👦👧 Junior Event

Places are limited, so get your entry in early!

👉 REGISTER HERE:
https://tournaments.tennis.com.au/tournament/1EB060E7-0F00-4601-B069-60451F43F121

🌐 www.elitetennis.com.au

East Coburg Tennis Club

🌈 Pride Cup Round 🌈

All the colours of the rainbow were out in force for Pride Round as ECTC hosted the Glencairn Gladiators in the Battle of Merri-Bek's inaugural Pride Cup.

There were headbands, wristbands, socks, bunting, traffic delays, banners, kids’ crafts, activities, rainbow cakes and cookies, and some absolute classics booming over the PA system - Dancing Queen, It’s Raining Men, Somewhere Over the Rainbow - all officially approved by Melbourne radio royalty, JOY FM’s very own Joel, who was there in the flesh.

https://joy.org.au/joybreakfast/2026/06/25/thursday-breakfast-lynton-joseph-interview/

There had been plenty of talk in the media during the week about the potential splitting of the Begovic/Santacroce pairing, and to be honest, they have been travelling terribly. Father Time is catching up with them, although both continue to refuse to wear a watch or look at the time.

Van Herk made the tough call to bring Joseph in for his first doubles match in over 12 months, partnering Santacroce in place of Begovic. The decision immediately looked questionable, with Santacroce/Joseph finding themselves 1–5 down before somehow coming from behind to take the first set.

They are still scratching their heads, mainly because both are firm believers in giving up early and thinking about the next set. Their motto remains simple: if at first you don’t succeed, just give up.

The Van Herks were elevated to the number one doubles position on account of the latest UTR rankings, and also surprised the bookies with a straight-sets win.

The singles were another hard-fought affair, and with Tennis Victoria CEO Mr Kim Kachel in attendance, both teams were, as always, on their very best behaviour.

But the real highlight came after the final ball was hit.

Post-match was what the day was truly about - celebrating inclusion, community, pride, respect, friendship, and making sure everyone feels welcome at our club, regardless of who they are or who they love.

A formal presentation for the Pride Cup was made, speeches were delivered, food was devoured, and both teams did the right thing and hydrated. And hydrate they did - right into the night, until it was time to order a soul-testing vindaloo from Saleems Indian Restaurant, a regular go-to for the ECTC boys.

In the end, tennis was the reason we came together, but community was the reason the night mattered.

Pride Round reminded us that a club is at its best when everyone has a place, everyone has a voice, and everyone is welcome on and off the court.

Pride Cup
Tennis Victoria
Elite Tennis Academy
Merri-bek City Council

🌈🎾

Pride Cup Social Night

Our Pride Cup has come and gone, and what a great night it was.

There were hits, there was running, there was cardio — and when we finished cardio, we did more cardio.

We had a ball on court, then some of us enjoyed a light snack, drink and chat in the clubhouse afterwards.

Coach Hugh and Lynton made sure to wear their new rainbow headbands during the session too.

Thank you to everyone who came along and supported the evening on another cold winter’s night. It was a lovely reminder of what club community is all about.

Tennis Victoria
Merri-bek City Council
Elite Tennis Academy
Pride Cup

🌈 East Coburg TC Pride Cup Workshop 🌈

A huge thank you to Hester for delivering such a thoughtful, engaging and meaningful Pride Cup workshop at the club.

It was a great opportunity for our community to come together, listen, learn and reflect on how we can continue to make tennis a more welcoming, inclusive and supportive space for everyone.

The Pride Cup is about more than just what happens on court. It is about community, respect, belonging and making sure people feel safe to be themselves in sport.

Thank you to everyone who came along, contributed to the discussion and helped make the evening such a positive one.

We now look forward to the Friday Night Social Social and Cardio Night followed by Saturday's East Coburg–Glencairn Pride Cup and celebrating inclusion, friendship and community through tennis.

🌈🎾

Merri-bek City Council
Tennis Victoria
Elite Tennis Academy
Pride Cup

https://joy.org.au/joybreakfast/2026/06/25/thursday-breakfast-lynton-joseph-interview/

Joel and Mama Mish are joined by coach and community champion Lynton Joseph from East Coburg Tennis Club to chat about the club’s inaugural LGBTQ+ Pride Cup Round, social tennis events and an exciting LGBTQ+ members workshop. Lynton shares how the club is creating a more welcoming and inclusive space for everyone, proving that sport has the power to bring people together and foster a true sense of belonging. It’s an inspiring conversation about community, inclusion and serving up pride both on and off the court.

Elite Tennis Academy
Merri-bek City Council
Tennis Victoria
Pride Cup

Thursday Breakfast: Lynton Joseph Interview Joel and Mama Mish are joined by coach and community champion Lynton Joseph from East Coburg Tennis Club to chat about the club’s inaugural LGBTQ+ Pride Cup Round, social tennis... LEARN MORE

🎾🏳️‍🌈 Pride Cup Teams Released 🏳️‍🌈🎾

The teams are in for Saturday's Battle of Merri-Bek Pride Cup, as the East Coburg Elves take on the Glencairn Gladiators in what is already being described by absolutely nobody as "just another tennis match."

🧝 East Coburg Elves v ⚔️ Glencairn Gladiators

Doubles
🎾 Rubber 1: Santacroce / Joseph v Bowerman / Cresswell
🎾 Rubber 2: A. Van Herk / H. Van Herk v Bunting / Delfino

Singles
🎾 Rubber 3: Santacroce v Bowerman
🎾 Rubber 4: Begovic v Cresswell
🎾 Rubber 5: A. Van Herk v Bunting
🎾 Rubber 6: Joseph v Delfino

There are massive outs for Glencairn, with Cooper and Whitty both overlooked for the local derby. Whether this was due to form, fitness or selection policy remains unclear.

East Coburg also has a notable absentee, with Sakthivelraja unavailable after flying back to India to get married. Speaking of marriage, if you're thinking of getting married yourself, why not consider Lynton Joseph Celebrant? Hoepfully he can marry people better than he can lose super tie-breakers.

The Elves have also made a bold selection statement, with Joseph selected despite being dropped only a week earlier for being too old, too slow and too fat. The selectors clearly saw something they liked, or simply ran out of available players.

Either way, this is shaping as a match for the ages.

There will be winners.
There will be losers.
There may even be functioning hamstrings.

Most importantly, we expect tennis, inclusion, community and Pride to be the real winners.

🎟️ Due to overwhelming demand, only standing-room tickets remain available. Tickets can be purchased at the gate, subject to availability, weather conditions, and whether anyone actually remembers where the gate is.

🏳️‍🌈🎾 See you Saturday.

Merri-bek City Council
Tennis Victoria
Pride Cup

Not long to go now. You must all be getting excited to hear East Coburg TC on the radio at approximately 8:15am on Joy FM 94.9 with club legend Joel from Joy FM.

For those who have always wondered what wisdom sounds like over the airwaves, this is your chance.

We'll be chatting about the upcoming Pride events this week at East Coburg Tennis Club.

Tune in live at https://joy.org.au/player/index.html

Elite Tennis Academy
Tennis Victoria
Merri-bek City Council

Pride Cup is coming to East Coburg Tennis Club

They will be running their 'Supporting Your Local LGBTQI + Members workshop'

Thursday June 25th at 7pm



All members, coaches and committee members are encouraged to come along.

Their education session will give our club and its members the tools, language, and confidence to create a space where everyone feels welcome, on and off the court.

Real talk, practical skills and a chance to be part of something bigger - because inclusive clubs are stronger clubs.

Pizza and light refreshments will be provided so please register your attendance to assist us in preparing for the session.

You can register here https://signup.com/client/invitation2/secure/211331212023/false #/invitation

We look forward to welcoming you all on the night.

Tennis Victoria Merri-bek City Council ( Moreland area ) Merri-bek community chat Group Elite Tennis Academy Pride Cup