Tennis
3 February, 2026
Hayes recognised for decades of service
For more than 20 years, Peter Hayes has helped grow tennis in the Wimmera as a player, coach and administrator.
For his dedication the St Michaels ace was named Tennis Victoria’s Community Champion of the Month for January in recognition of his role in developing and promoting tennis in the Wimmera.
Tennis Victoria’s Wimmera development officer Kate-Lyn Perkin said that Hayes plays a critical role in maintaining and growing tennis in the region.
“Peter's always been at the forefront with ideas of how to keep community tennis alive, what we can do to change, how we can be better, and how we get more people involved,” she said.
“He’s always been really keen on how to keep juniors and young people in the sport and how to develop them to be better tennis players.”
His impact on tennis development has been evident through his assistance with recruiting local coaches and stepping into the role when required.
“It can take us 12 or so months to find a new coach to come to the region or have someone get into that role, and Pete's always been a really good supporter in finding a coach and stepping up when we don't have a coach,” Perkin said.
“He doesn’t want recognition for what he does, but he’s helped keep coaching alive in the region for the past 12 months.”
Perkin added that Hayes has consistently organised representative teams to play in Inter-Tegional and Country Week tournaments.
“Peter’s organised inter-regional tournaments; he plays Country Week and always rallies people to come and play it,” she said.
“He’s just so passionate about tennis, and he keeps trying to find ways to get new people or keep tennis interesting.
“He well and truly needed to be celebrated.”