Tatura Lawn Tennis Club and Cobram Lawn Tennis Club are gearing up to host their biggest events of the year this long weekend.
The clubs will host their historic annual Labour Day events, with hundreds of players set to hit the courts across Saturday, Sunday and Monday, March 11-13.
Tatura has been holding its Labour Day competition for more than five decades and tournament manager Matt Nihill said it was a huge occasion for the club.
“It is probably our top fundraiser for the year, so it is important that we get strong entries and really good support, which luckily we have,” Nihill said.
“It is a big event for the tennis club and it is a big event for the town.”
About 300 players will be competing in singles, doubles and mixed doubles events across senior and junior age groups.
“Our entries are very strong this year, we have actually had to cut the entries off because the tournament is full,” Nihill said.
“We have really strong entries all through the grades this year, which is terrific.
“We will have visitors from two or three different clubs in Melbourne, clubs in Geelong, Bendigo, Maryborough and even the Byron Bay tennis club. This year it seems we have more local entries too, which is great.
“It is known for being a friendly, social tournament. However, the tennis is always strong and really competitive. We like to think we have a great balance between quality tennis and a good social vibe.”
There will be live music on Sunday night with a special dress-up theme – Aussie occa.
People will also get a chance to take part in a unique event on Saturday in the wooden racquet challenge.
“People come dressed up in retro gear and they find old-style ’60s and ’70s wooden racquets and we have a 23-person knockout handicap competition. It is something a bit different,” Nihill said.
Up north, Cobram will host the 98th edition of its annual tournament.
Cobram president David Bate said the club was ready to welcome the hundreds of players set to take part in the event.
“We have 300 people entered and there are 470 entries altogether, which is pretty much on target for what we normally would do, if not a few more,” Bate said.
“The facility's in really good condition, we are ready to go.”
Qualifying for the singles events will be played on Saturday followed by the doubles qualifiers on Sunday, with the semi-finals and finals to be held on Monday.
Bate said the tournament was the main event on Cobram’s tennis calendar with everyone at the club putting in the hard work to make it the best event possible.
“It's a fantastic event. It's their main moneymaker for the year. It's like all hands on deck. It's a lot of work. But it's really fulfilling too,” he said.
“What I love about it is the sense of community, the Cobram community coming together.
“We are only a small committee, but everyone jumps on board. We have a lot of volunteers through the junior program and our social tennis players all get on board and give a hand, so it makes it a lot less work and a lot more fun.”
Bate said it was great to see people make the effort to travel to Cobram for the tournament.
He said the Robinson family had been coming to the tournament for more than 40 years, while other clubs also made the tournament a regular destination on the playing calendar.
“The tennis is great, because none of these Melbourne folk play on grass courts. So it's a real novelty for (them) to come up and play on our surface,” he said.
“It's a real family event for the weekend that they just put in their calendar every year and get up there and enjoy.”
Goulburn Murray Lawn Tennis Association has made sure to give local players every opportunity to take part in either of the two tournaments, with a week off before its grand finals on Saturday, March 18.