Tooradin Tennis Club has named its pavilion after one of its dedicated life members, Bobby Genoni.
Ms Genoni has been a part of the club for over 60 years, serving on the committee and contributing to countless community activities.
Trained in her early years by Australian tennis legend Frank Sedgman, she’s played over 1000 competition matches for the club and is still playing at the age of 84.
Her leadership is also etched into the club’s honour board, where she is listed as president in 2005-06 and secretary in 1978-81 and 1997-98.
“She’s a great person to have around the club because, obviously, she’s got a lot of knowledge and a lot of history about the place, but she’s also a wonderful person,” Club president Graeme Symons said.
“She’s got a smile on her face all the time, and she’s great to be around, and we’re just really lucky to have her.”
On the special occasion, Mr Symons looked back on the history of the club.
The club was founded in 1947, and Ms Genoni got involved about ten years later.
“I think that the club was probably a little more active competition-wise in the 1980s and 1990s,” Mr Symons said.
“Now we have quite a strong junior program here. That’s a little bit to do with the development around Tooradin, and there are new estates, so you get younger kids and young families.
“There’s still social tennis happening during the week for the Midweek Ladies, which has been ongoing for a really long time. It started in the 1970s. Bobby’s been a player for that whole time.
“We’ve got all kinds of standards of people who play every year. We’ve had a couple of people who have got involved because their kids are doing juniors, and they’ve thought I would mind playing to this as well.”
Mr Symons said the club remains a good social place for people in the community to meet.
“It’s a game that anyone can play,” he said.
