Clubs react to comeback of indoor sport for those 18 and under

From Wednesday, as announced by the state government on Sunday, indoor non-contact sport can resume for those aged 18 years and under in regional Victoria.

Urquhart said he would open his doors straight away.

He's grateful to the Christ Church Tennis Club for allowing WITC to run its lessons outdoors for the past three weeks.

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"The reality is the kids have been attending their lessons for three weeks anyway and we'll transfer those back inside on Wednesday," he said.

WITC will only run junior lessons for the time being. Urquhart said 140 youngsters were taking lessons each week.

Under Tennis Victoria's guidelines for regional Victoria, group coaching with up to 10 participants plus the coach is permitted for players aged 18 and under (indoors).

Up to 10 participants per court is permitted.

Warrnambool Badminton Association secretary Kylie Divall said the group was not likely to get competition going again until next year.

She said the association, based at The Arc Stadium, would first have to get the tick of approval from Badminton Victoria.

"We haven't had juniors all year," she said.

"As a club it isn't going to be ideal for us to start juniors at the moment.

"A lot of juniors do play seniors as well and if we can't have seniors, there's no point opening the stadium for maybe 20 juniors."

Divall said it was also hard to turn people away and difficult to pair up people of different skill levels.

She hopes restrictions ease further to allow people of all ages to have a social hit over summer.

Warrnambool Table Tennis Association secretary Mark Taylor said the committee would likely meet next week to discuss its next steps.

He said Table Tennis Victoria had asked associations to hold off until it had a full understanding of the requirements.

"We got a message Monday just to say do the planning to open up again but don't plan on opening before November 1 until they've clarified the exact requirements for table tennis as a whole," he said.

Taylor added the association would have to work with Warrnambool City Council given it was a council building.

He said the association didn't have a juniors night.

However, he explained Tuesday nights - for beginners and social hitting - were popular for junior players prior to the coronavirus pandemic.

The secretary said managing a return for juniors would be something for the committee to discuss.

"At the same time, we're hoping adults can come back reasonably shortly after that as well," he said.

Taylor explained the centre normally closed for Christmas time at the end of November.

He believes they'll have to keep it open for December and January to build momentum for next year's season from March to November.

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