Tennis is one of Australia's most popular participation sports — with over 1 million players across the country and one of the world's great Grand Slams held in Melbourne each January. Community tennis clubs are the backbone of the sport: maintaining courts, running competitions, and developing the next generation of players. Grant funding supports club maintenance, court improvement, junior programs, and inclusive tennis that opens the sport to all Australians.
Community tennis landscape
Tennis's accessibility challenges
Australian Sports Commission / Sport Australia
Community sport grants.
State sport agencies
State-level tennis development funding.
Local government
Court maintenance and club facility grants.
Tennis Australia
National governing body:
- Club development and sustainability grants
- Hot Shot Tennis (junior introductory program)
- Community tennis grants
- Inclusive tennis programs
- Multicultural tennis
State tennis associations
Court maintenance and improvement
Club operations
Junior tennis development
Women's and girls' tennis
Wheelchair and adaptive tennis
Senior and veterans tennis
Multicultural tennis
One of tennis's unique advantages is its longevity — people play competitively into their 70s and 80s. This makes tennis particularly valuable as a healthy ageing sport:
- Regular tennis is associated with the longest life expectancy of any sport (study of 8,000 patients)
- Social doubles provides both physical activity and social connection
- Low-impact variants (social tennis, doubles) are accessible to people with health limitations
- Tennis clubs are social institutions for many older members
Grant applications that emphasise tennis as healthy ageing infrastructure can access aged care and healthy ageing funders alongside sports funders.
Court quality is foundational
Without quality courts, clubs cannot attract or retain players. Court resurfacing and maintenance grants address the most fundamental barrier to club participation.
Junior pipeline sustainability
Clubs that don't develop junior players face eventual decline. Applications for Hot Shot and junior programs address long-term sustainability.
Fee barriers
Tennis has cost barriers at every level. Applications for subsidised memberships, equipment loans, or free introductory programs address access inequity.
Regional clubs
Many regional tennis clubs are struggling financially. Applications for regional club sustainability — not just program grants — address the structural challenge of keeping clubs viable.
Tahua's grants management platform supports tennis funders and community sport organisations — with participant tracking, court utilisation data, program reach measurement, and the reporting tools that help tennis funders demonstrate their investment in community tennis across Australia.