Casey moved to Horsham 22 years ago and threw herself into the sport as a way of getting to know people and getting involved in the community.

“I ended up joining Horsham Lawn and they are the friends that you still sort of go back to now, even though life has changed a lot since then,” Casey said.

“It’s the good thing about tennis – it was the sort of thing that got me in through Uni and I’ve just found a friendship group where its a common interest. It’s been really good to me.”

Now she has taken on the opportunity to give back to the sport in the area.

After various administration stints at different clubs, Casey has taken over from Marita Punchard as the regional team manager for Wimmera tennis. 

The team manager role involves putting together teams and promoting participation in tennis tournaments and events.

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Casey said one of her main hopes was to keep encouraging participation in juniors -  providing pathways for youngsters to remain involved in the sport.

Casey acknowledged the difficulty there can be in competing with other sports in the region.

“I’m passionate about keeping people in the game,” Casey said. “In this area, we are very football, netball oriented. 

“Tennis has been my passion the whole time, it’s my son's passion, but for other people, you have to find a spot for it among all the football and netball.

“We’ve got some very good juniors coming through and their passion is tennis, then you’ve got others filling in time until the football season starts again. And that’s okay too.

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“For those that want it, the opportunities are there.

“There are just a heap of tournaments going on all throughout the year for different age groups.”

Casey said keeping players playing the game of tennis beyond their junior years was something that the Wimmera tennis is focusing on.

“I’m really passionate about keeping kids that are really interested in tennis,” Casey said.

“We’ve got a lot of juniors playing in the senior competition which is great.

“But you still need good juniors playing in the junior level as well, so the younger kids can see how good players can be and the level they can get to.”

Casey said bringing coaches to the area has been a key to keep youngsters improving.

“Having two coaches in the area now is fabulous, we’ve seen some really great growth in the little kids.”

Wimmera tennis players competed at a regional competition in Bendigo during January.