At Entry Group they love tennis, but they wanted to do more than put their shorts on and have a hit with their mates.
So they sponsored an annual tennis tournament! A unique tournament in a part of the country they already loved – regional Victoria.
Then they did something else. They increased the prize money for the women’s championship fivefold, and almost tripled the men’s prize money.
That’s right! The Warrnambool Lawn Open tennis tournament now awards $5,000 to the winning women’s player and $2,500 to the winning men’s player.
The seaside tennis club was already a winner. With about 40 courts, 32 of them smooth green grass, it’s one of the largest tennis facilities in Australia. Located just a short walk from the main beach in Warrnambool, you might want to take your swimming gear as well as your tennis racket.
When co-Director of the Entry Group, Michael Dewar, discovered that the family of his friend Jeremy Tobin was involved in the Warrnambool Lawn Tennis Club, his interest was piqued. And after a chat with his Entry Group co-Director, Ryan Keys, they both knew they wanted to sponsor the Labour Day weekend Warrnambool Lawn Open.
There were two conditions attached to their offer of sponsorship and they were unique requests. Dewar and Keys wanted to flip the allocation of prize money and the order of play. For the well-known annual tournament, they wanted the men’s final to be played before the women’s final, and a larger amount of prize money to be awarded to the women’s champion.
‘We wanted the women’s final to be the highlight of the event,’ Dewar said, explaining how important it is to shine a light on strong female role models. Four years ago, when he was 30 years old, Dewar’s
The Warrnambool Lawn Open tennis tournament
Warrnambool Lawn Tennis Club’s President, Kim Tobin, holding the trophy for Most Outstanding Professional Tournament
mother died from cancer and the beliefs and values she passed onto her two sons inspired him to make women’s equality a cornerstone of his life’s work. The Warrnambool Lawn Open is another way he can do that, in addition to volunteering his time and staff to the St Kilda Mums, supporting mothers in need of assistance.
The first tournament was a big success, with the women playing second and collecting more prize money than the male players. ‘The men had more prize money than in previous years, so they were happy,’ Dewar said. ‘And the public were so accepting of the change.’
Entry Group supplied players with drink bottles embossed with inspirational words including Bosa Sebele’s quote: ‘There is no force more powerful than a woman determined to rise.’ The women players loved it, and the tournament started attracting more sponsorship, high-ranking players, and state and national awards.
At the 2020–2021 Victorian Tennis Awards, the Warrnambool Lawn Open won the Most Outstanding Tournament award by Tennis Victoria. They then went on to win the Most Outstanding Professional Tournament award at the Australian Tennis Awards – the same event Ash Barty and Dylan Alcott won tennis’ top prize, the Newcombe Medal.
Closer to home, the Warrnambool Lawn Open is gearing up for its 2022 tournament on Labour Day Weekend, 12–14 March. Dewar and Keys will be there, and are excited and proud of their friends in Warrnambool for ‘not being afraid to change the dynamic of tennis’.
With Tennis Victoria and Tennis Australia throwing their support behind a tennis tournament that prioritises women, the sport may be evolving and its inequities diminishing. Dewar and Keys, however, remains humble about their role in it all.
‘The team at Warrnambool does a superb job in running the tournament,’ Dewar explained.
Read what the winner Zuzana Zlochova thinks about the tournament.
(Zuzana is the highest world ranking of 263 and defeated Belinda Woolcock highest world ranking of 290)
“I absolutely loved everything in Warrnambool! It has been highlight of my career so far, from atmosphere to courts, to hospitality – it was all awesome. Crowd was supporting players while enjoying the drinks and music. Wish there were more tournaments like this, honestly. I will need to be back in the future because that’s what ideal tournament looks to me :) I would like to thank guys from Entry Education and Warrnambool Tennis Clus for their amazing support of this tournament, and especially women in sport.”
