CENTRAL Wimmera Tennis Association has never kicked off a finals series quite like this one.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
The association adopted a flexible fixture for the first round of finals at the weekend, with extreme heat meaning play could not go ahead in its normal Saturday afternoon time-slot.
Teams instead played at other times across the weekend, including on Friday night and on Sunday.
But the forced scheduling change was not the only unprecedented situation facing association officials.
President Kate-Lyn Perkin said a drawn match in B Special competition meant the association had to work quickly to come up with a fair way to decide a winner.
"Natimuk played Drung South, and at the end of the day the match was drawn. That hasn't happened in recent times," she said.
"The juniors have a bylaw that they can pick any two players to play another set of doubles to decide the winner, but there's actually no bylaw for a drawn final in seniors - I guess because it's never really happened.
"So we had to think of a way to decide the game.
"The teams played four more sets, and the result came down to the last match on court, a women's doubles set. And that match went to a tiebreaker."
Natimuk prevailed.
Perkin said the unique circumstance was an important learning for the association.
"It's alerted us that we need to make sure there's something in place in case this happens again," she said.
"It's the same with heat rule - there's no distinct bylaw as for what happens if all play is called off by the association prior to matches starting. The only bylaw relates to if matches are in play, so we're looking at that.
"As an association we had to do a lot of thinking on our feet, phone calls and talking to Tennis Victoria at the weekend.
"But it worked out - everyone got on the court and that's the main thing."
Players will have the long weekend off before the preliminary finals are played on March 16. Perkin encouraged players to enjoy the final weeks of the season.
"People do forget sometimes that we're playing local tennis, and can get too serious in finals," she said.
"The long and the short of it is that we're all out playing tennis because we love it, to be social, for our health, and to be part of our communities. Sometimes that gets a little bit lost when it comes to finals.
"I wish everyone good luck and hope we see lots of people come down to support tennis."
