2 February 2010

public tennis courts

| ozmackem
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My seven year old recently became quite interested in tennis after watching the Australian Open.
So, not wanting to hamper a potential future Grand Slam winner I went out and got us both a raquet and a few balls and then proceeded to drive around Canbera trying to find a court to play tennis on.
All the courts we visited were either locked and you needed to be a member of the relevant club or were locked and you needed to book in advance.
Are there any courts where a father and son could just walk on and have a bit of fun, preferably northside.
I don’t mind paying and booking for facilities, as I understand these places require upkeep, but was wondering if there were any ‘public’ courts?

Ta

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Hawker college has two courts with fixed nets that are unlocked.

bush goddess8:49 am 04 Feb 10

There are courts at O’Connor available to the public and you collect the keys from the O’Connor Pharmacy which is open from 0900 – 2000 every day.

They are very good courts and generally speaking, at least one is available most times and at reasonable cost. May be worth ringing the Pharmacy first to check availability.

Happy hitting!

Kippax tennis club is the answer! Good quality tennis (be prepared to hit hard!), good courts, good people…and they’ve got a great local stringer!

Copland College has some courts, but you need to BYO net. Same story for Canberra High (our old ‘social tennis’ lurk back in the day)

I’m told by the young uns that there are also tennis lessons at Copland after school hours.

You could also contact ACT tennis as they run children’s classes.

Narrabundah College has an open court

Clown Killer11:02 am 03 Feb 10

There are courts at Old Parliament House that can be accessed for free – but need to be booked in advance.

Canberra High School has a couple.

check out the local schools – particularly senior schools – they will often have courts that arent locked, although for free you will not find any high quality and none with proper nets.

Felix the Cat6:49 am 03 Feb 10

There was a similar thread on here a month or so back – I think the answers were check your local schools. Belconnen High @ Hawker is one that has tennis courts, maybe others closer to Flynn.

Gold Creek HS in Nicholls has 4 hardcourts

We are in Flynn, but as I noted, anywhere northside would be preferable.

Holden Caulfield11:13 pm 02 Feb 10

Schools are probably your best bet. When I lived in Nicholls back in the day some fairly rudimentary courts were available at the High School between Harcourt Hill and Ngunnawal.

Also back in the day, you could get free access to the courts on the reps side of Old Parliament House. However these are now managed by Rising Star Tennis Academy. They’re pretty good with kids, according to friends who send their offspring to them, and they run school holiday programs too. So if your little tike is still keen in a few months they might be worth a look.

there is 2 tennis courts at caroline chisholm school on the highschool part one is privatly owned and the other closer to the school is owned by the school they arent in very good condition ( some loose stones and no nets..well there are the metal outside parts of the nets but no actual nets) they are allways open i would recomend you take a broom or something to brush off the courts first

A lot of high schools with tennis courts are available to the public after school hours. Chisholm High used to be for example, no idea if they still are.

Otherwise, if he’s a future grand slam winner, why not just pay for some court time. It’s not exactly expensive.

Try a highschool? they might be netless, or if you’re lucky will have a low fence n place of the net to hit over

Dickson College has a court that you can have a bash around on…..I think it is unlocked? Saw people there the other day and the court did not look like it had anything removeable on it (metal net thingy) thus my assumption of it being open…..

ANU hire out their tennis courts for, as best I recall, a fairly small fee – 6125 2273. Hard courts near the oval on Barry Drive that’s being ripped up, and I think there are astroturf ones down near the law school.

Good on you for being involved with your kid, and encouraging healthy activity. I wish any of the parents I know personally would make the same effort with their own kids.

moneypenny26129:30 pm 02 Feb 10

Most tennis clubs allow non-members to use their courts on a casual basis – normally you pay by the hour. Some clubs may require a club member to either vouch for you or be your playing partner. This is not uncommon for social clubs generally.

A list of local tennis clubs (a few with useful websites) is at http://www.tennis.com.au/pages/default.aspx?id=26&pageId=1671

Would be helpful if people knew where you lived

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