Award-winning volunteer Julie Polkinghorne, who has supported her tennis community for over 30 years, embodies the “Change Makers” theme of National Volunteers Week.
Australia, 17 May 2023 | Vivienne Christie
As the thousands of Australians who generously contribute their time to tennis throughout the nation are celebrated throughout National Volunteers Week, there are few people more qualified to comment on the 2023 theme of “The Change Makers” than Julie Polkinghorne.
The long-time resident of Port Lincoln, South Australia, has been tirelessly working within her local tennis community for more than three decades – firstly as a captain, then as a committee member and subsequently as President of the Port Lincoln Tennis Association for close to 20 years.
Within that period, Polkinghorne has driven the Port Lincoln Tennis Association’s transformation to a 16-court facility with fully renovated club rooms. Alongside her husband, Paul, she has also helped create opportunities for regional players to thrive.
“We had big ambitions of what we wanted to achieve and you hope you can get those ideas across the line,” Polkinghorne told tennis.com.au. “But I think probably by next year we’ll have ticked every single box that we want to tick.”
Combining her efforts within the tennis community with a busy full-time role as a Retail Manager, in which she oversees around 30 staff members, Polkinghorne estimates she spends around 20 hours per week volunteering. “Sometimes it’s more than that,” she adds.
This week, it’s all about our amazing volunteers 🥳
From grassroots to events and everything in between, thank YOU for making our sport what it is 🫶#NVW2023 | #TheChangeMakers pic.twitter.com/z1aaPGCTTb
— TennisAustralia (@TennisAustralia) May 15, 2023
But the rewards are infinite for the South Australian, who was named Volunteer of the Year at the 2022 Australian Tennis Awards and is twice a recipient of Tennis SA’s Rural Volunteer Achievement Award.
Those accolades, Polkinghorne notes, are not only personally rewarding but also provide recognition for the many contributors to the Port Lincoln Tennis Association’s growth. While the extensive facilities overhaul has been helped by support from local council, Tennis Australia, Tennis SA and grant funding, around one-third of the million-dollar-plus spend was generated by fundraising efforts within the community.
“We’ve had so much support…
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