The tennis courts at Loton Park were filled with players this weekend as the rounds of the GLTA 2024 Perth Lawn Tennis Championships took place.
The event is part of the Gay and Lesbian Tennis Association’s World Tour, and it brought payers to Perth from over 20 different countries.
Doug Kirkwood who is the co-director of the tournament, and the club’s vice president shared the event had attracted 135 player and they’d come from many destinations including the USA, Taiwan, the United Kingdom and South Africa.
The tournament will feature 235 matches including singles, doubles and open double categories and it’s been a jam packed scheduled to fit all the matches in.
The action began with 102 matches played at The Mount Lawley Tennis Club on Friday, on Saturday the tournament moved to the club’s home turf at Loton Park and the finals will take place on Sunday.
Doug explained that the GLTA Tournament consists of around 90 events around the globe, but very few are given the status of being a Masters event.
Twice now during its seven-year history the Perth event has been awarded the status, meaning that those participating get double points on their tournament scorecard.
Since the inaugural event back in 2017 the tournament has grown considerably, and now has nearly double the number of players it had during its first outing.
In-between the matches there’s also been a range of social events that participants have been taking part in including a welcome party on Thursday night, and an all-white themed party on the Saturday evening.
Across five courts on Saturday afternoon multiple games were in full swing with tennis balls flying back-and-forth as players battled extremely hot temperatures.
Charlie Vreeland is one of the players whose travelled across the globe to be part of the event. Hailing from New York City he’s taken part in many GLTA tournament events in many different countries.
“I’ve been to Thailand, Nurenberg in Germany, London, Paris, and many places across the USA as well.” he shared.
“I first started playing tennis in high school, and then I took a break, started playing volleyball recreationally and then I came back to tennis in 2003.”
Vreeland shared that his involvement in the game had allowed him to make a lot of friendships, and now thanks to taking part in the international tournament he as friends across the globe.
“Most of my friends are international.” he said. “And this is just an amazing thing, it’s hard to make friends as you get older. When you’re gay and older – it’s even more difficult.”
Also slugging it out on the court under the blazing son was John Chatterley from Manchester. After meeting Vreeland on the tour in Gran Canaria a few years ago, the two friends have caught up in Dublin and now both decided to take part in the Australian leg.
The long trip to Perth from the UK is the first time Chatterley has been outside Europe, and after Perth he’ll be taking part in tournaments in Tasmania, Victoria and New South Wales.
Chatterley shared that his first sport was cricket, but as 14-year-old he was introduced to tennis, and he’s since spent a lot of time playing and coaching others at a grassroots level.
The Loton Park Tennis Club celebrated its centenary in 2016. The club was built by the City of Perth on land donated by the Loton Family over 100 years ago. In the 1990’s the club revived its membership and fortunes by focusing on the LGBTIQ+ community.
Doug Kirkwood encouraged those with a love of tennis, or an interest in learning to get involved with club by becoming a member.
“We’re very friendly club, it doesn’t matter whether you’ve been playing tennis for donkey’s years or whether you’ve never picked up a racket. Everybody’s been in the same position at some stage or another, we just welcome everybody into the fold.”
The club also has social membership options for people who want to be part of the club, but are not actually into playing the game.
Find out all the details on their website.Â
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