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.
The life memories that can be made by taking the time to give kids opportunities and shared experiences with special people when you have access to them.
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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.
For me, the Australian Summer of Tennis is a time when my sport is on television in households and sparks discussion and daily conversations about tennis for millions of people across our Country.
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.
I decided I would try to pull a few strings and get 20 kids involved.
Once the invites went out locally it filled within hours and families were prepared to change their holiday plans and head to Melbourne.
There was even a waitlist for those eager to join which was granted as a couple of families made the decision not to go, which they would later regret in hindsight.
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’.
The Tennis Australia HotShots program launched in 2008 and I was fortunate enough to be one of the original Ambassadors along with 11 other Coaches from across Australia.
I continued to run this very successful program which evolved from the Wilson peeWee programs of the 1990s with thousands of kids developing through the HotShots pathway.
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.
The fun part was when all the families and friends who were watching at home sent photos and videos of the broadcast back through to us.
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.
This information is never given out too early as details can change, weather can interrupt plans and players can request extended practise sessions.
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 practise 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.
7year 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.
A big storm rolled in mid-afternoon which meant the outside courts matches were suspended for a few hours so Tennis Australia very kindly gave us 50 tickets to Rod Laver Arena in Rows 10-12 which was amazing to watch Casper Ruud’s match.
How very lucky all the families were to be granted these tickets worth $1000s.
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.
Each year when we are at the Australian Open there is so much going on behind the scenes besides the actual tournament and more opportunities came our way.
I was asked to choose a few kids for a Channel 7 Sunrise Breakfast Show segment as they also wanted to have a chat with some of the kids from Parkes.
Emrys Cassidy, Knox Calabro and Alessandro Villella were up to the task and agreed to get out of bed extra early for the 7am meeting.
The boys were brilliant in conversation with Sports Commentator Channel 7s Mark Beretta for about half an hour before they went to air.
The boys were gifted with special boxes and upon opening, their eyes lit up as they saw the John Newcombe commemorative coins.
And the ‘cherry on top’ was when I had organised the Australian Open Tournament Director and good friend Craig Tiley to come and meet the boys and share some fun facts about the Australian Open, John Newcombe and his time as a tennis coach before becoming the CEO of Tennis Australia.
The boys and their mums and dads could hardly contain their excitement and were very appreciative.
Later in the morning on Day 2 eight adults including Leanne Miles and Courtney Rousell from the families group joined with me in delivering an adult Cardio Tennis Showcase on Court 1573.
The first match following the exhibition was the ever-popular Frenchman Gael Monfils so the stands were filling fast and by the time the team came through the underground tunnels the Show Court was almost at capacity.
The nerves were kicking in for the adults but once the music started they settled down and we showed all the crowd how much fun Cardio tennis can be.
This group was also treated to a great experience when the Tennis Australia staffer took us all back underneath to the player warm-up area where we stopped for half an hour and did some star spotting of the players and watched their various warm-up routines which was a lot of fun.
Whilst I was extremely fortunate to spend 16 days in Melbourne involved in a whole array of activations from Kids Tennis Day to Speaking at the Regional Coaches Project, to spending the morning with Judy Murray and a team of Tennis Australia female coaches in helping facilitate the WTA girls pilot Come Play.
Being part of the Coach Coalition with 15 coaches from across Australia planning future development programs for HotShots, Adults and Schools was inspiring while celebrating 50years of the Womens Tennis Foundation with International Tennis Coaches Hall of Famer Dr Ann Quinn and a room full of female leaders in Tennis at Royal South Yarra was next level.
Having the opportunity to sit courtside with hundreds of my cohort of coaches from across Australia dissecting matches was highly stimulating, but it was seeing the smiles on the faces and the excitement in the eyes of our kids, and the tears running down the faces of the mums beaming with pride and the overwhelming gratitude of all the families involved which made the months of planning and organisation for our 2025 Australian Open adventure so personally and professionally satisfying.
