There’s been a changing of the guard at Merriwa Park, with longtime club and committee member Sam Allen taking over as president of Wangaratta Lawn Tennis, Croquet and Pickleball Club from Barry Sullivan after seven years.

The transition was announced at the club’s annual general meeting on Saturday, 11 October, ahead of the start of the senior aggregate tennis competition.

Allen will be assisted by new vice president Riley Minns.

“Both Barry Sullivan and [secretary] Michael Falkenberg approached me a few months in advance, and floated the idea,” Allen said

“There was a little bit of excitement, but also pretty nervous.

“I’m pretty young, and we’re very blessed as a club to have a very intelligent committee and a lot of very good people who come from really good backgrounds, and so at first I probably thought there were a lot of better people for the job that we’ve already got there, but as we spoke about it more and had more conversations about it, it just became a bit clearer.

“To be honest, it didn’t take a lot of convincing, I just had to make sure it was all clear in my own head that this was going to be a good thing to do.

“I’m really excited for the upcoming season.”

Allen brings with him a wealth of knowledge of the club, having played there for nearly his entire life and having served on the committee for many years.

He said he was eager to preserve the club’s biggest draw, the immaculately cared for grass courts in Merriwa Park, as well as keep the club viable and flourishing as it has for years.

“Our main resource is our grass courts, that’s a natural product, so we’ve very environment driven, so you can’t predict what your challenges are going to be,” he said.

“Our greens keeping team are doing a terrific job with Adrian [Pantling] and Max [McCauliffe].

“There are ongoing things, like membership, participation, and how to stay relevant among all of the different demographics.

“I’m really excited to tackle those things alongside the committee, I think we’ve made a lot of movements forward in the last four or five years, and I think if we can keep that momentum moving forward that’d be terrific.”

The outgoing Sullivan confirmed he would remain on the committee, and said his time at the helm had been full of challenges but the club had come through them all stronger.

“I have really enjoyed my seven-year term as president and have been well supported by the committee and members over the years,” he said.

“During this period, it hasn't all been smooth sailing as we initially had impacts from bushfire and smoke haze which threatened our annual tournament, and then there was covid, where we were able to gain approval to play under certain strict conditions and we had police patrolling the area to ensure we were maintaining compliance.

“We had our courts flooded which restricted court access and required significant remediation work., and we then had a season impacted by the potential of falling trees.

“All of these challenges required support from local council and Tennis Victoria to navigate our way through, but we got there.

“Our vibrant junior and senior competitions and coaching offering makes us a very well regarded club - however, most of all, we are a welcoming club that offers fun outdoor sporting options for our local community.

“I'm very confident Sam and Riley, with the support of the committee and members, will continue the improvement journey to keep the club vibrant and sustainable.”

The club will continue to run their various competitions throughout the week and weekend, and are deep in preparations for the 100th running of their Dal Zotto Wines Australia Day Tournament.