BLACKBURN & DISTRICT NIGHT TENNIS ASSOCIATION
EST. 1979
Four teams under lights at Blackburn South in 1979 grew into a home-and-away competition of over 480+ teams today.
THE TIMELINE
1979 -Present
SECOND HALF OF 1979
FORMED AT BLACKBURN SOUTH
The Blackburn & District Night Tennis Association was formed in the second half of 1979. Barry Hall, who was Chairman of Selectors at Blackburn South Tennis Club, had been trying for some time to get a night competition going amongst local Clubs. After a meeting held at Blackburn South Tennis Club on 14/08/1979 the first season started with four teams. The teams were Blackburn South, North Box Hill, Bennettswood and a team from Blackburn who played their matches at Blackburn South, as there was a regular social group at Blackburn TC on Tuesday nights, so Blackburn couldn’t host their own team. Bennettswood, and a Blackburn side that played its home matches at Blackburn South.
1980
FIRST PREMIERSHIP
The very first BDNTA premiership side were a group of strong young Blackburn players. The same team were Runners-Up to Blackburn South in the 1980 Winter Season.
1984
TWELVE CLUBS, ~94 TEAMS
The competition had spread across 12 venue clubs and roughly 94 teams, drawn by the mix of social and competitive night tennis. Growth kept climbing from here.
~ 1993
300 TEAMS
Less than a decade later, the association crossed the 300-team mark, administered throughout by Barry Hall and Kevin Graham, with various Record Secretaries assisting, including Bruce Leister and Rod & Dannie Aitken.
LATE 1980’S – 1999
DOM ALBERICO JOINS
Dom Alberico began helping at association level with BDNTA gradings, alongside the early years of his 14-year stint on the Tennis Victoria Pennant committee. Kevin Graham retired from BDNTA duties around 1999; Barry Hall continued as President.
2001 WINTER SEASON
LADDERS GO ONLINE
Dom Alberico became Record Secretary in the 2001 Winter Season, and the first online BDNTA ladders were published via the Blackburn TC website.
END OF 2004
BARRY HALL RETIRED
Barry Hall retired as President at the end of the 2004 Summer season after 25 years of service to the association.
2005
BDNTA.COM AND HOME AND AWAY PLAY
Dom Alberico took over as sole administrator of the BDNTA from 2005 until the end of 2012. The rights to www.bdnta.com were purchased in late 2004 and Dom set up the first BDNTA website which went online in early 2005. Since 2004 the competition has moved to a completely home/away based format and teams are now only accepted directly from BDNTA Venue Clubs.
2010 WINTER SEASON
TROLS REPLACES THE PAPER LADDER
After doing the ladders manually for many seasons, Dom oversaw the introduction of the TROLS online result entry system, which has proved invaluable to both Club and association administrators. BDNTA first used TROLS in the 2010 winter season. The TROLS system was developed by one of our previous record secretaries, Bruce Leister.
FROM 2013
NEW RECORD SECRETARIES
From 2013, Dom Alberico continued as President/Administrator of the BDNTA, assisted by four Record Secretaries – Lisa Lovell, John Best, Lisa Petering & David Willing.
SPRING 2021
DOM RETIRED - DAVID & PAUL NEW ADMINS
In Spring 2021, Dom retired from BDNTA administration after 20 years of dedicated service. David Willing and Paul Arockiadass are now the current BDNTA Administrators. John Best, our Tuesday Record Secretary, also retired after the 2021 Autumn season. After many years, Lisa Lovell retired from her Monday role, with Jessie Pang volunteering to take over. Lisa Petering continues as the Wednesday Record Secretary, while Paul Arockiadass has taken on the Tuesday Record Secretary position. David Willing continues as the Thursday Record Secretary. Dom organised the 2021 Spring season draws and supported the new BDNTA Administration during the transition period.
SPRING 2026
A RECORD HIGH
Team numbers reached an all-time record, with over 482 teams competing across the association.