The beginning of the annual Spring tennis competition in Braidwood last week marked the beginning of an exciting period for local tennis fans.
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Along with the local competition, tennis fans will also have the opportunity to take part in the Palerang Cup, the annual tennis derby which features Bungendore and Braidwood players pitted against each other for bragging rights and a trophy.
Although, according to Jenny Daniher of the Braidwood Tennis Club, the first challenge might be finding the trophy.
“I’m sure [the trophy is] proudly presented in somebody’s shop or somebody’s loungeroom somewhere,” Daniher said, laughing.
“It is a really fun day,” she added, and continued to say that the competition consistently enjoys a strong showing of support from the local players.
“Everyone’s very desperate to hold it for their own town … it can get pretty tense. But that’s nice, it’s a good rivalry between country towns.
“We seem to have less trouble at finding players than Bungendore … we seem to have more committed players.
“We do still try to cater to everyone if they really want to play.”
The Palerang Cup has a long and storied history. Tennis competitions between towns in the Palerang District used to be commonplace throughout the 1940s, ‘50s, and ‘60s, before the passion fizzled.
The cup was resurrected in 2013 and has since gone on to become a permanent fixture on the calendar.
It will also serve to provide handy motivation for the players currently taking part in the Braidwood Night Spring Competition, which Daniher said is struggling for numbers this year.
“We’re pretty down on numbers this comp,” she said.
“In the Autumn, I think everyone gets excited after seeing the Australian Open on TV, and in the Autumn comp we had 40 players.
“Unfortunately, I don’t whether it’s just the cold weather scares people, but this competition we’re down to four teams of six.”
However, the smaller competition size has provided some positives for the lower-level players this year.
“It’s great for the bottom players, because I think they always play a bit better when they’re playing with better players,” Daniher said.
“It just enables them to play a bit harder in a way. So in a way, it’s kind of nice to have that [smaller competition], but it is just slightly different tennis.”
The club is also hoping to start a Pink Week, as part of the Pink Up Your Town initiative begun by Mudgee real estate agent Hugh Bateman to raise money for the McGrath Foundation.
For more information, contact Jenny Daniher at danihers@bigpond.com.