Tennis
23 April, 2026
Lights on for Haven tennis
Haven Tennis Club will receive lighting for its 12 tennis courts after Horsham Rural City Council’s grant application to Sport and Recreation Victoria was successful.
Club president Matt Hobbs was overjoyed at the news, crediting the council's work.
“I’m speechless, thrilled,” he said.
“After hearing the news from council, If we had a bottle of champagne with us, we would have been popping that champagne.
“Sue [Exell] filled me in on how many runs at this the club has had in the past, and it's never really got the traction, but this time, all the stars lined up.
“The council were really sensational in how they handled it; the information they had gathered in order to make this a successful bid was beyond reproach and they just did a really tremendous job.
“We would love it to be ready by the offseason next year, bit it’s more likely to be up and running in the tail end of 2027.”
Hobbs believes the addition of lights opens up possibilities for both Haven and the tennis community in the region.
“We’ve got very limited choices when it comes to tennis and lighting at the moment,” he said.
“With the opportunities in front of us here, we want to take advantage of it and we’ve got a lot of different ideas.
“One idea is having an off-season junior competition, with juniors from different clubs playing in teams together.”
Sue Exell, treasurer and long-time administrator of the club, added that it will assist new local coach Loveleen Singh and the development of players.
“Loveleen has come to the area recently, and he’s terrific,” she said.
“With new programs coming in, he’s desperate for lights, as coaches need to make a living out of it, and without lights, particularly in winter, it can be limiting.
“So he’s excited that the lights are coming.”
The treasurer said it has been a long process to upgrade Haven Reserve over the years.
“We’ve been working on developing Haven Reserve since 1993,” Exell said.
“It’s been a long time with many disappointments, as well as some highs along the way.
“Back in 2013, the courts were done up after they were damaged from floods, but unfortunately, there wasn’t enough money to add lights, so we’ve been waiting since then.
“This is just going to open up so many doors for the Central Wimmera.”
With the hope of upgrading the hall and other facilities in the near future, the integration of lights marks the ongoing progress of the Haven Tennis Club, having integrated multiple programs and hosted a junior tournament over the last year.
“This last 12 months for Haven Tennis Club has been really great,” Hobbs said.
“We ran a really fantastic junior tournament in November last year, where we had 99 kids show up, which was fantastic.
“We started pickleball on Wednesday mornings, and we’re doing more programs, such as Hot Shots, which helps kids learn and develop.
“Another program we are currently running with Loveleen is called Rusty Rackets, which is for adults looking to get back into tennis, or for anyone who want to learn or polish up their tennis abilities.”