The Dunn family, consisting of father Luke and children Ebony, Josh, Ben and Alex; the Bell family, including father Andrew and children Hamish, Mia and Ava; the French family, with parents Ken and Theresa and their daughter Hettie; and another unrelated Dunn family, featuring mother Courtney and her daughter Imogen, will all play in grand finals on Saturday. 

The adults have all made the A Special grand final for Brimpaen, after a stellar season on court. 

With Brimpaen not fielding any junior teams, the children have been playing at Haven. The Brimpaen children have made grand finals this year ranging from section five girls right through to section one open. 

Courtney Dunn, who is also the club’s secretary, said it was exceptional to have so many Brimpaen players competing so well. 

“I’ve never seen this many people make it into grand finals,” she said.

“It has been a very successful club, though. For the size of the community, we have had a lot of success.

“This is my first year watching Imogen in juniors and it’s just unbelievable to have so many children doing so well. The improvement is so quick. It’s just really, really good to see.”

Andrew Bell said he hoped the junior players would go on to player seniors at Brimpaen – perhaps even alongside their parents.

“We don’t have juniors here so the Haven club is fantastic for the juniors. The coaches there are great and it’s a great grounding for them,” he said.

“We are pretty lucky in this district that we have some bigger families and have some children that we hope can go on to fill some senior sides in the following years. 

“It’s certainly the first time all of my children have been involved in a grand final in the same year, so it’s very special.”

Bell said the quality of the Brimpaen courts was one of the reasons the juniors had thrived this year.

“Having such good courts is fantastic because the children don’t have to play on rubbish courts and they enjoy coming and playing on such a good surface,” Bell said.

Ebony Dunn said the club had a great family atmosphere. She said had enjoyed playing tennis alongside her father Luke in A Special this season.

“It’s really good being able to play with Dad in A Special,” she said.

“It’s something I will always remember. It’s good to have all of us doing a sport that we love and all get out and about together.”

Courtney Dunn said maintaining the tennis club was an important social outlet for the Brimpaen community.

“All the boys go to the fire brigade but socially this is about the only thing we have,” she said.

“We try to make an effort a couple times a year to put on some barbecues and something a bit fun, which we invite everyone from around the community to attend.

“Hopefully we can keep the club going and all these juniors will go onto play with us in seniors. It’s not just for the club – it’s about the community, too.”

Luke Dunn, A Special

Ebony Dunn, A Special

Josh Dunn, S1 open

Ben Dunn, S2 boys

Alex Dunn, S4 boys

Andrew Bell, A Special

Hamish Bell, S1 open

Mia Bell, S2 girls

Ava Bell, S5 girls

Courtney Dunn, A Special

Imogen Dunn, S5 girls

Hettie French, A Special

Theresa French, A Special

Ken French, A Special