A long-time staple of the Goulburn Valley sporting calendar, the history of the Euroa Labour Day Tennis Tournament is filled with incredible highlights.
But nothing in its 92-year history could top what happened at the annual Australian Tennis Awards on Monday night.
In a room filled with national tennis royalty, Euroa Lawn Tennis Club president Bob Furphy and wife Gayle walked up on stage to accept the 2022 Most Outstanding Tournament award.
One of three tournaments nominated as a finalist, Euroa was the only one based in a regional town and not backed by professional tennis organisations.
The result showed the power of a community banding together and for Furphy gave him the shock of his life.
“It was totally unexpected and walking up on stage we were just overwhelmed and ecstatic,” Furphy said.
“We were up against a tournament from Queensland, which was their junior state championship with pro money behind it, and another Sydney-based tournament of a similar size — I honestly thought to myself ‘why are we here?’.
“So being presented the award by Todd Woodbridge he said to us ‘you seem to be a little surprised’, and we we certainly were, to have our community recognised like this was just incredible.”
Furphy went on to explain just how much this award meant not only to the organisers, but the entire community of Euroa.
“I hope Tennis Australia understands what this accolade means to a small club and community like Euroa,” he said.
“This is an event that we put on through the entire volunteer base of our club, these are the same people that came back every single year and put in countless hours.
“So for them (Tennis Australia) to say that ours is the best tournament in the country, it’s a huge reward for our volunteers and the work that they do.”
In terms of what makes the tournament so special, Furphy said it was the impact of the people that have been around it for decades.
“It’s a huge job to make it happen and our volunteers are the backbone of getting it up and going, but once the tournament is on it’s the community of long-time players that keep returning which makes it so great,” he said.
“There is such a great atmosphere around the event and that comes as a result of the reputation we have built of 92 years of hosting a top quality tournament.”
But what is it that constantly brings these players back?
Well according to Furphy there are a variety of factors that make Euroa an appealing tournament for players of all abilities.
“Our tournament guarantees people tennis and that’s players of high quality, who play in our open ladies and men’s singles, down to those who are coming for a social event, we’ve got a standard to cater for everyone,” he said.
“Our venue is another big factor as well, it’s a very pretty venue and is great for spectators and our courts are up there with the best in Australia, so it is a very enjoyable tournament to come and play.”
And while they may have just reached the top of the mountain, Furphy and the organising committee are not resting on their laurels as they gear up for the 93rd edition in 2023.
“Being the tournament director of an event that has such great heritage, there is certainly pressure there to not stuff it up,” he said.
“Year on year we have built this into the premier tennis tournament going around and we’ve done that by just bringing about small improvements each year.
“The demand to come and play is incredible, we had the online portal open for just 20 minutes and it’s already filled up, so we’re confident it’ll be even better in 2023.”