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The Bendigo Tennis Association is celebrating the renewal of its partnership with Fosterville Gold Mine (FGM), for the next three years.

“The Bendigo Regional Tennis Centre (BRTC), previously the Fosterville Gold Tennis Centre, has developed into a thriving community space and while tennis remains a priority, the centre is proving to be a top-class facility for community and business groups to meet,” said James Rouel, General Manager of the centre.

“The partnership with Fosterville Gold Mine over the past three years has enabled us to resource a dedicated tennis administrator, which has led to improved tennis as well as investing in growing and supporting tennis clubs,” explained James.

“Fosterville Gold Mine fundamentally believes in the benefits that social sport and activity delivers for all people, both physically and mentally. The BRTC has developed into the premier tennis precinct in Victoria - outside of Melbourne Park - and is a credit to the vision of the city and local volunteers. We are proud to be able to support the Centre and the wider Bendigo region,” said Ion Hann, Vice President, Australian Operations, Kirkland Lake Gold.

Despite the disruptions from the pandemic, commitment to tennis is strong again in Bendigo, with the 21/22 Pennant season seeing many players return to the sport including four new affiliated clubs.

“We’re proud to offer social and pennant options for the Greater Bendigo area and we are working with both our affiliated and other tennis clubs to grow the tennis community with a focus on developing strong and sustainable competition offerings for years to come,” said Barry Green, President of the Bendigo Tennis Association.

“This means that when we are approached to host premier events such as the recent Bendigo International Pro Tour, an ATP Challenger 80 event, which brought players from within the top 200 in the world to Bendigo, we can confidently say yes,” said Barry.

The expected knock-on effect of hosting events such as the Pro Tour, is very significant for the tourism hospitality and accommodation industries, which have been so severely impacted by the pandemic.

“The centre has gone from strength-to-strength and is an important drawcard to the region which will no doubt play an important role in helping the Bendigo Region recover from the COVID-related impacts that has been experienced over the past two years,” Ion concluded.