Indoor tennis coming soon with courts set to open at Albany Agricultural Society pavilions

Tennis will soon be available come rain, hail or shine with two indoor courts set to be operating at the Albany Agricultural Society pavilions before the end of the year. On Court Tennis owner Vincent Brochard is driving the indoor tennis vision — a first for Albany — with the support of the Albany Agricultural Society. In July last year, former society president Rob Wright revealed preliminary talks had been held with local sporting clubs to deliver a major indoor sports centre at the pavilions. The pavilions were opened in 2017 at a cost of $2.5 million and are owned by the society on land it leases from the City of Albany. Mr Brochard said he had been in talks with the AAS since December to bring indoor tennis to Albany and officially signed a lease to use half of the West Pavilion a few weeks ago. He said many of his students had missed out on coaching sessions through Albany’s wild winter and indoor courts would ensure they could continue year-round. “There will be no cancellations anymore and tennis all year round, people can come at 2am if they want and have a tennis match so it is going to be good,” he said. “I was really surprised with the weather we have in the winter not to have indoor tennis — it has always been a bit of an idea.” Mr Brochard said the tennis hard courts would be laid in the coming weeks ready to be used by mid-December. The centre would also feature a club area, table tennis, coffee machine, surrounding netting and benches. “The concrete floor is already ready to set up the surface, the space is great and the lights are good for sport,” Mr Brochard said. “I am going to set up two hard courts with a little club area as well for my coaching and for people to rent and organise social tennis. “It is going to be proper tennis courts with no rain, no wind, not too much sun, we can open all the gates when it is hot, it is going to be perfect — it is exciting.” Mr Brochard said he also had plans to introduce Albany to padel tennis — a sport taking off in Europe and putting down roots in Australia.