By Staff

They came. They went. But only after numerous new friends were made, & tears were shed as they left the morning of July 7th, 2008.

Photo Gallery:
Australian Guests visit Gold River Racquet Club
Evening Party with our Australian Guests

SCTA and Gold River Racquet Club General Manager, Michael Burchett, and the Housing Families (they call them Billets) welcomed them Sunday night-June 29th with a Tri-Tip barbecue & Potluck Dessert Bar, their families waiting and Bobby Martinez' band; award winning The Bennys. Potluck? What's that? Said Phil Shanahan, the Australian Tour Director and nephew of Margaret Court, who holds the title of most Grand Slams wins ever. I asked Phil, "What do you call it?" He laughed and said, "Food".

The tour group consisted of 30 kids and 13 adult chaperones this time. We thank the generous Housing Families for the use of their homes. Here is the list of families: Burchett's, Rugen's, Cho's, Hughes's, Smith's, Vogel's, Pinson's, Parnas, Olsen's, Putty's, Bowers, Hutchinson's, Schwartz's, Goldwyn's, Alves, and Beliveau's.

The group played in the USTA sanctioned junior tournament the entire week and our Sacramento junior players were very excited to play against the Australians. They were able to see two Sacramento Capitals matches and made a trip to Carson City, Nevada to play against their kids before we took a scenic detour and visited the old west town of Virginia City, Nevada.

A Trip Down Under
Children from the ages of 13-17 years of age are invited to participate in a 2-3 week tennis tournament trip through Australia. A limited number of teenage tennis players will be selected for this once in a life time adventure. The trip includes round trip airfare, accommodations, and tennis tournaments with the finale at the Australian Open in Melbourne. Intermediate play is preferable and some high level players allowed.

You will need to be fit enough to play tennis and want to play tennis everyday for three weeks. You will meet wonderful people and attend the Aussie Open. Some scholarships and or subsidies may or may not be available. Attitude, enthusiasm and team spirit is necessary. We ask that each child help fundraise to help pay the expenses of this trip in order to learn valuable life skills, time management and the value of working hard. This is how the Australian kids did it! SCTA will be stepping in and helping to guide the youth’s efforts.

Adult chaperones will be considered. If you have any type of teaching credentials, we are looking for that. For more information, please call Sue Davis at 916-631-9922 or email at sue.davis3@comcast.net

Itinerary: 2009 Australian Tennis Tour
• Approximate dates – January 2nd – January 23rd, 2009
• Two Grass Court Tournaments and three days at the Australian Open
• January 7th – Margaret Court Teams Event
• January 8th-12th Margaret Court Tournament
• January 13th – 17th Victorian Junior Grass Court Titles
• January 19th – 22nd Australian Open

"An experience of a lifetime" – 55 grass courts in the Albury/Wodonga Region