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Get ready Perth, the Billie Jean Cup is coming. On November 1, Loton Park will hold the inaugural Billie Jean Cup, an appropriately named interstate tennis competition between the women of Loton Park and the Ace Girls of Melbourne. The Ace Girls will bring a team of 6-10 girls to Perth for a day of singles and doubles matches – with the winner being determined based on who wins the most matches, with sets and games won used to break any ties.
The idea for the Billie Jean Cup started at the Asia Pacific Outgames in Melbourne earlier this year, according to Loton Park Tennis Club President Michelle Rigg.
‘It started off more as a joke than anything, “that we came over here, so you guys should come over to Perthâ€. The next minute it was quite serious, so when we came back, we made a formal invitation to the Ace Girls and straight up they accepted it and expanded it from there.’
Though the two clubs met in Melbourne, they did not actually get a chance to play, explained Rigg, and so the Billie Jean Cup is a ‘new experience for everybody’ and a chance for both women’s teams to play a new interstate competitor.
For Tamara Jungwirth of the Ace Girls, the tennis is not the only thing to get excited about.
‘Loton Park has an enviable reputation as the only gay and lesbian tennis club in Australia. I don’t think anyone on the team has had an opportunity to visit Loton Park and so we’re looking forward to that and getting to play on grass courts.’
From this year’s two-team competition, the Ace Girls and Loton Park hope to lay the foundation for further interstate competition for gay and lesbian tennis teams in Australia.
‘We are keen to make it an Australia-wide competition and rotate it between the states,’ said Rigg, adding that a Gay Australian Open, in conjunction with the Outgames, was a possibility Loton Park had a subcommittee investigating.
Rigg went on to point to such competitions as important since there are so few openly gay elite athletes, while Jungwirth further explained that sporting competitions for gay and lesbian athletes fulfill an important social function as well.
‘I think it follows on from the great tradition of the Gay Games and Outgames, where people can actively combine their sports lives and their social lives,’ said Jungwirth. ‘For women it is very important to be able to pursue their sport in a supportive environment, so they can maintain motivation and also keep doing the kind of things that lead to a healthy lifestyle.’
The Billie Jean Cup is one of many new initiatives for Loton Park, after the club held meetings earlier in the year to discuss the club’s financial situation. According to Loton Park, events like the Billie Jean Cup will hopefully lead to higher profile for the club and draw in new members.
In addition to the Billie Jean Cup Loton Park has launched a new logo and slogan for the 2008-2009 season. Loton Park opens its grass courts for play at its Open Day on October 18. Then, following the Billie Jean Cup on November 1, Loton Park will hold its Women’s Day on November 2 with the Men’s Day coming later in the month on November 30 and raising money for the WA AIDS Council. Both spectators and players are welcome to attend any Loton Park event and take advantage of the club’s social atmosphere (and the cheap drinks in the Clubhouse).
For information on Loton Park memberships or events, contact Michelle (0418 942 231) or Gary (0409 376 615) or email enquiries@lotonpark.com.au.
Megan Smith
