“Filling the void”: Inaugural tennis competition aims to bring back competitive tennis to the region

South West tennis players served up a heartful of competition last Sunday, coming together to compete in the inaugural MacGregor Bloxsome Trophy Competition. More than 30 players from the Busselton and Margaret River tennis clubs went head to head in the name of club volunteers James MacGregor and Mike Bloxsome. Both are highly active volunteers at their respective clubs and have been essential for the smooth operation of competitive club tennis. Mr MacGregor has been head organiser for BTC’s Thursday night tennis competition for the past 17 years, as well as organising the march tournament for the past decade, which has a reputation as the most financially successful event in the club’s calendar. Mr Bloxsome has similarly been the organiser of Thursday night tennis at Margaret River for the past five years and is a valuable member and club volunteer. Event organiser Brycen Godfrey said the event aimed to show how valued the two volunteers are. “We just really wanted to recognise these volunteers in the two clubs,” he said. “At least 20-30 players wouldn’t be playing tennis if it weren’t for them.” Featuring a two-part home-and-away fixture, the competition required participants to play one set of singles and two sets of doubles tennis, including mixed teams, in hopes of claiming the perpetual trophy shield which had been crafted and donated by local player Ray Comley. Mr Godfrey said the competition aimed to fill the void in South West regional tennis, which no longer featured a competitive league between local clubs. “It sounds selfish but the reason for the event was to get a decent hit of tennis,” he said. “We’re really missing competitive tennis in the South West; it’s kind of gone to the wayside, so it’s good to bring it back.” While Margaret River cleaned up the first round, BTC proved the victors, rising above Margaret River to take them out 25 sets to five at the round two clash last weekend. Notable performances of the day went to Callum MacAulay as best overall player, Richard Kim as best singles player and Brycen Godfrey as best doubles player. The runner-ups for each cateogry were Pat Mulhern, Mr Bloxsome and Sean Allardyce respectively, with prizes for all donated by ON-Q Projects. Mr Godfrey said the day had the perfect competitive atmosphere played in a fun and friendly way. “It was good, a lot of interest from local players,” he said. “We get along really well with Margaret River so there were lots of jokes and banter but still competitive; we take it pretty seriously still. “It’s great that everyone came together. It was a really good day and hopefully we can get momentum and keep it going.” He hoped the event would lead to a monthly competition.