By Parkes Coach Helen Magill
What an amazing Summer of tennis it has been throughout all the capital cities leading into Melbourne and the Australian Open Grand Slam Tournament.
The hundreds of players from around the World who travelled down under with their teams to have the chance to play in the first Grand Slam of 2025 along with the thousands of visitors from overseas, most of whom left their chilly winters to explore all things Australia, stopping off in Melbourne and enjoying the beautiful warm weather offerings.
In sport and business we often talk about ‘Money Can’t Buy’ experiences and how impactful they can be on generations of families.
Twenty Parkes and Forbes HotShots tennis players and their families were treated to two magical ‘money can’t buy’ days recently during the Australian Open Grand Slam event in Melbourne.
Latest Stories
Unlike the domestic sports which run weekly throughout their seasons, for us involved in Tennis, we have a very small window when we have the opportunity at a World class event to make a significant impact on the ground and inspire those around us.
Ten years ago I organised a trip to Melbourne for 30 kids to have a ‘money can’t buy’ experience and those positive memories are still talked about today so I thought it was time to organise another big crew to have a similar unforgettable experience.
The Australian Open is such a significant event in the tennis calendar now so we see hundreds of Coaches, mostly from Victoria, apply to have a group of a maximum of 10 participate.
The organisation and application process began in September and by mid December notice came through from Tennis Australia that the group of 20 would be accepted for a ‘HotShots Kids on Court Experience’.
Our Australian Open adventure started early on Day 1 of the Tournament when I was asked if our group would do a Channel 9 Today Show cross on site from Garden Square in Melbourne Park.
The families were keen and arrived at around 7am well before the public and the kids played with some of the activations before rehearsing and then were all involved in their minutes of fame on television.
We were escorted off to a VIP area where all the Staff, Officials and Ballkids hang out and eat throughout each day and night of the event.
The whole group were treated to a delicious breakfast by Tennis Australia which was very kind before Zoe Amery and Ben Westcott performed special duties at the Official Opening Ceremony celebrating 50 years since John Newcombe won the Australian Open. Evonne Goolagong also won that year (1974,1975, 1976).
This was still prior to the public being allowed into the precinct so our group had front row viewing of the ceremony and all the dignitaries involved.
The Honourable Steve Dimopoulos MP Minister for Tourism, Sport and Major Events even came across to meet the kids, ask some questions and take some photos with them.
Their day of being little superstars was continuing.
The anticipation was building for the kids as the gates opened and the public came racing into Melbourne Park to secure their seats on the outside courts.
The night before I received notice that our group had been chosen to play on Rod Laver Arena so I couldn’t contain my excitement and had contacted all the families to advise.
The kids were ‘pumped’ to get out on court and show their skills to all the people who were coming into RLA to find their seats and get ready for Day 1 of the Australian Open.
Whilst the families were escorted into Rod Laver Arena to get their phone cameras ready, the kids were taken into a special lift which goes underneath the courts.
They were taken on a tour through the tunnels and the guide explained where the player lounges were, the tournament boxes to report in, media centre etc and their eyes were wide open exploring everything and asking plenty of questions.
We were led onto court by Ivy Skinner from Forbes who was beaming with a big smile.
Ivy is one of the leading juniors in the Central West and loved leading the group out onto Rod Laver Arena.
We all sat courtside and watched the players finish their practice sessions before it was time for the kids from Parkes and Forbes to show their skills.
The courtside commentator announced our group as representing Parkes to the people in the stadium to a big cheer and applause and their time to be next level ‘super stars’ had commenced.
I had invited Chloe and Clare Amery, who were part of the Parkes coaching team last year, to come onto Rod Laver Arena with me to assist with the delivery.
Tennis Australia had asked if a younger group of players could show some coordination skills with racquet and ball that we do in the HotShots program as a spectacle for the camera crew to get footage for later use throughout the year, while others in our group were asked to rally on the courts.
The parents, grandparents and even great grandparents were in the front rows of Rod Laver looking proud as punch and watching intently. Most wished they had those VIP seats for the actual matches later on.
Lara Amery did a super job filming 10-15sec grabs for other media outlets while I was out on court taking plenty of action shots.
Seven-year-old Alessandro Villella, who is a confident public speaker, volunteered to represent the group and be interviewed on court about his amazing experience which beamed across the big screens for all to see and hear.
As the clock ticked over to almost noon we finished on court, got a special group photo behind the ‘Melbourne’ sign and the group received more applause from the crowd for their efforts.
Now it was time for Ivey Rousell to shine.
Ivey was put forward as a candidate to toss the coin during Day 1.
It wasn’t confirmed until quite late that Ivey would be accompanying John Newcombe on court to reveal his commemorative coin for the opening match.
All the Parkes players formed a guard of honour as firstly the professional players walked out from the tunnel, followed by Ivey with John Newcombe, in front of a now packed stadium.
Ivey had been practising her coin tosses since Christmas Day and despite the nerves, tossed the coin perfectly and was lucky enough to keep the coin as a memento of the occasion.
The group exited and were reunited with their families, took a few deep breaths and then it was time to explore the precinct and all things Australian Open from the TopCourt which was an area full of gaming activities, Pop and Padel Tennis, Mecca makeup and hair as well as a nail salon, to the ever popular HotShots Ballpark which had a plethora of fun activities as well as a multi-tiered water slide which the kids loved.
Some of the group ventured to the practise courts to watch Carlos Alcaraz and Alex DeMinaur training while others found a few seats on Kia Arena to watch matches.
Finally to finish Day 1, Tennis Australia gifted the kids with a bag each of Australian Open and HotShots merch in appreciation of their early start and helping with media commitments.
