It takes a Village to grow

It qualifies her to run her own clientele of aspiring tennis stars, or as she puts it, “I can become a head of a club now.”

The actual head of the club, president Matt Stewart, might have something to say about that.

Stewart and his committee have been working on initiatives to grow the club’s membership base, with Eddy’s appointment a key part of the long-term planning.

“Our primary goal is to establish some junior sides in the coming seasons and Rhiann is a great catalyst to try and make that happen,” he said.

Campaspe Tennis Association president Ben McEvoy told The Riv in August the association had interest from new clubs to enter junior teams for the 2026-27 season.

The logical follow-up to Stewart was to ask whether Echuca Village was one of them.

“Not yet, no,” he said.

“We’d probably need more interest and juniors involved with Rhiann before getting the required numbers.”

The club recently held a junior school holiday clinic where Eddy took players of all abilities through various drills and gameplay over two separate days.

She will coach a Hot Shots program this summer, starting on October 9 and running every Friday night for 10 weeks.

The cost is $100, which works out at $10 a session.

The sun setting a bit later allows Eddy to coach more often.

Though there are plans to make Echuca Village tennis accessible all year round.

“Our main club goal is looking at getting a lighting system,” Stewart said.

“We want to look for grants or local sponsorship opportunities so that we can support Rhiann through the winter months when there’s not as much daylight after school.

“That was a bit difficult for her this year, to get kids on board with only an hour or so of light after they knock off from school.”

Stewart clearly sees potential in Eddy, and she seems to have ample support and a perfect platform to develop her very young coaching career.

It’s a win-win, and more junior players in town are set to benefit from it.