Collaroy reclaims 'Most Outstanding Club' title at the 2025 Tennis NSW awards

Members of the Committee with M.C. Casey Dellacqua at the 2025 Tennis NSW Awards

On Thursday, 16 October 2025, members of the Management Committee along with our guest, Cr. Bob Giltinan, attended the 2025 Tennis NSW Awards, in which Collaroy Tennis Club was nominated as Finalists in two categories.

The Awards Dinner was held at Le Montage in Lilyfield with the Club nominated as a Finalist for both ‘Most Outstanding Club or Venue – Metro’ (a title we last held in 2022) and for the Tony Podesta Most Outstanding Inclusion Initiative, in recognition of the major event we hosted at the Club as part of the inaugural Australian Pride in Sport Festival, back in March.

And our coaching partner, Evolve Tennis Academy was also a nominated Finalist, for ‘Excellence in Venue Operations’ at Collaroy.

CTC Committee Members with Para-Standing Champion, Michele Windsor at Le Montage

The signs were good when our crew arrived to discover that, unlike the previous year when their table was way at the back of the room, this time they were positioned right up front, immediately behind a table seating Lleyton Hewitt and his family, Tennis NSW CEO, Darren Simpson, and other dignitaries.

Australian tennis legends, John Fitzgerald and Casey Dellacqua shared MC duties throughout the evening and in the second award presented, announced Cruz Hewitt as Male Junior Athlete of the Year for the second time in a row.

In the following two categories, two of the Finalists – Blind and Low Vision athletes, Arato Katsuda-Green (Most Outstanding Young Athlete With a Disability) and Grace Hobbs (Most Outstanding Athlete With a Disability) – would soon be gracing the courts at Collaroy in our All Abilities Week event on October 26… as would Para-Standing player Kai Ryan who won the 2025 Young Volunteer Achievement Award.

The 9^th Award announced on the night was for the Most Outstanding Inclusion Initiative, and Collaroy missed out this year to a collaboration between Bathurst Tennis Centre and Vivability. But we were soon cheering again when Evolve Tennis Academy was announced as the winner in the Excellence in Venue Operations category. With both Ryan and Scott unable to attend, Wil stepped up to receive the award on their behalf.

The evening built to a crescendo with the announcement of the Most Outstanding Tennis Club or Venue in both Country and Metro areas of New South Wales. The Country title went to the Alstonville Tennis & Pickleball Club, while the Metro winner was… COLLAROY TENNIS CLUB! The announcement brought spontaneous cheering from our table as our newly elected President, Martin Farrow, stepped forward to receive the Award. (Martin must have been wondering how long this has been going on... his first official public appearance as President, and another addition to the trophy cabinet!)

In her presentation to Martin, Casey Dellacqua told a crowded room that she’d been involved with our Club in various programs for Tennis NSW (Gender Equity, Young Leaders, etc.) and said: “What I love about Collaroy is that, whenever Tennis NSW suggests a program in which it might be involved, the Club puts up its hand and says, ‘Yes… we’ll do that’. The Club’s record in the Inclusion space in particular and its continued growth, speak volumes.”

In his acceptance speech, Martin acknowledged with a wry smile that “Yes… we do do a lot of things at Collaroy. And some of them we do pretty well.” Collaroy took this year’s title over fellow Finalists, the Northern Suburbs Tennis Association (NSTA) and North West Sydney Tennis.

The award marked a prestigious double for our Club, having won the title of 2025 NSW Community Club of the Year against all sports, earlier in the year.

Collaroy Member and NSTA Committee Member, Ginette Porteous was quick to congratulate us, saying: “I saw the NSTA’s submission and it was very good… so Collaroy’s must have been exceptional!” Naskaya Rajah (Tennis NSW Inclusion & Community Manager) joined Pride in Sport’s Ben Cork (National Program Manager) and Olympian Dominic Clarke, Members of Careel Bay Tennis Club, representatives of Australian Blind and Low Vision Tennis, and the NSTA’s Helen Ackerman, in offering their congratulations.

Our friend from Careel Bay, Michelle Lusty, was a Finalist for the Volunteer Achievement Award while another friend of Collaroy, Leanne Swaysland, won ‘Most Outstanding 30+ Tennis Master’.

Before the final awards were announced, John Fitzgerald conducted a ‘fireside chat’ with inspirational Wheelchair Tennis Legend, David Hall OAM – a ‘warm up’ for David’s interview with Wally Masur at our Club for All Abilities Week. David too congratulated our Club and said he was really looking forward to making the trek from Rockdale to Collaroy at the end of the month.

And the evening concluded with Alex de Minaur announced as NSW Player of the Year, the award accepted on his behalf by Lleyton Hewitt.

All in all, it was another great night for Collaroy and worthy recognition for all the members who make our Club so special. Now it’s on to the Tennis Australia ‘Newcombe Medal Awards’ in December… go Collaroy!