A very warm welcome back as a highly valued Sawatzky Cup sponsor  to the Tennis Excellence team!

Tennis Excellence are the resident coaching team at Sawatzky Cup venue Alexander Park Tennis Club and one of their great team, Elliot Moyle was on the 2025 Sawatzky Cup champion men's team!I

f YOU want to hone up your tennis skills, or learn the game from scratch, give Tennis Excellence a call!

Thanks again Dan Sewell and the TE crew!

A very handy tennis player himself, Mr Steven Huynh has returned as one of the Sawatzky Cup's valuable sponsors, through his business,
N-Hance Home Loans. 
If YOU are looking to buy in the Perth area, give Steve a call! 
M: 0421 547 032
E: steven@nhncehomeloans.com.au 

Thanks again Steve and all at N-Hance Home Loans

Bringing NEW brands and products into the Sawatzky Cup sponsors 'family' is always exciting, none more so than when it is a WA-born product  -- and one that is internationally successful as well!
So fantastic to have OTIS EYEWEAR  in for the 2026 tournament as Official Eyewear Supplier!
Otis will be supplying some great product for our Sawatzky Cup winners.
The genesis of Otis was in the surf-fuelled magnificence of WA's South-West and the company is still based there and has spread its wings -- and eyewear offerings - nationally and internationally!
Thanks and welcome to Sally Kerr and all at team Otis!
For more on Otis, go to https://au.otiseyewear.com/

Major sponsor DV Buyers Agency on board for Sawatzky Cup VI

The Sawatzky Cup just would not be possible without the great support of sponsors -- both companies and individuals -- so it's fantastic to have Dan and Violeta Brennan back with DV Buyers Agency, one of the "Big Three" sponsors for the Sawatzky Cup! 

If you or someone you know is looking for property in the Perth region, give Dan a call on 0478 496 697 or check out https://dvbuyersagency.com.au/

The Racquet Shop Perth's go-to for all things 'racquetty' - be it tennis, pickleball, badminton, padel, squash, table tennis and more - is back on board as a major sponsor for Sawatzky Cup VI! Thanks to Kane and the team!
Your vouchers last time helped make up some amazing packages for the cup winners and runners-up!

https://racquetshop.com.au/

Fantastic to have Perth sports retailer/uniform/merchandiser Slater-Gartrell Sports BACK as Official Uniform Supplier for the Sawatzky Cup! 

Our tournament shirts ZIP with colour, as you can see from this image from the 2025 tournament, displaying sponsors' logos AND the amazing Rare Voices Australia logo (did you know the 'birds' on that logo are actually fingerprints, each unique to a specific genetic disease?) 
A big portion of sponsors' donations goes to make sure EVERY Sawatzky Cup entrant has some 'merch' that they can wear/use well beyond T-day,and this gives the event, our sponsors and Rare Voices Australia maximum exposure during the year!

A great big THANKS to Graeme Clayton and the team at Slater-Gartrell!

I'm thrilled to announce The Revival House Perth as the first of our NEW partners for the Sawatzky Cup 2026 Grasscourt Classic tournament.

The Revival House Perth is one of the ONLY all-film movie houses in the world, showing classics and more at the beautiful Art Deco Como Theatre in South Perth.

Stay tuned for some EXCITING news going forward!

Thanks to Rob and Satria and the whole team at The Revival House Perth for their support

THE sixth edition of the Sawatzky Cup will return on Saturday,January 10 2026 - once again on the beautiful grass courts of Alexander Park Tennis Club in Menora,Perth!

We'll again be raising funds and awareness for rare illnesses and disease, in memory of our tennis mate Ross Sawatzky, and on behalf of Rare Voices Australia.

Stay tuned for tournament details, when entries open and more!

SPORTS SHIRT AUCTION RETURNS FOR 2026 SAWATZKY CUP!

THANKS to the Perth Wildcats, Western Force and Rugby Australia for committing to once again provide signed, authenticated 2025 jerseys to go into our Sawatzky Cup sports shirts auction!

All proceeds will be donated to the Sawatzky Cup 2026 appeal for Rare Voices Australia!

I'm also chasing additional shirts and sports memorabilia to go into the auction, which hopefully will be up and running well before Christmas in case bidders want to donate their jerseys as presents.

THANK YOU once again to all at Perth Wildcats, the Western Force and Rugby Australia for your generosity!

Big shout out to one of the Sawatzky Cup’s fantastic sponsors, Tennis Excellence, who have just “smashed it out of the park” with a brand/logo revamp, that’s bold and distinctive! Great work Dan Sewell and team and looking forward to having you back for Sawatzky Cup 2026! https://www.tennisexcellence.c...

OUR final fundraising tally to Rare Voices Australia, on behalf of the Sawatzky Cup, is officially $7760!

However the total overall is past $8000 as some donations went directly to Rare Voices Australia rather than through the Sawatzky Cup link.

A massive THANK YOU to all who contributed - players, sponsors, spectators, the board and staff at Alexander Park Tennis Club, staff at Rare Voices Australia and all those - wherever you are - who made donations.

Enormous gratitude too to the Perth Glory, Rugby Australia, Athletics West, the Western Force and Perth Wildcats for donating jerseys which were auctioned off, proceeds going to RVA.

Hopefully I can announce SOON some exciting developments for the Sawatzky Cup and its fundraising efforts for Rare Voices Australia - right across Australia.

See you all in 2026!

Norman Burns
Tournament Director Sawatzky Cup Grasscourt Classic, presented by Zarraffa's Coffee Currambine.

I'm posting this with just a few hours before the fifth annual Sawatzky Cup kicks into gear -- shame the bloke on the right doesn't play any more but I hope ALL competitors can channel their inner Federer on the day and:

* Try your best, regardless of the result
* Show great sportsman/womanship on the court
* Have FUN
* Support our on-site coffee van, our canteen (Club Social) our free afternoon sausage sizzle, buy up big on the raffles (prizes totalling thousands of dollars), support the Alexander Park Tennis Club bar and
* Do YOUR club and team proud!

WELL done to the successful bidder for the signed cricket bat and ball and GREAT WORK by Sawatzky Cup platinum sponsor Paul Snell (Zarraffas Coffee Currambine) to get rising star Cooper Connolly to sign 'em.

The bat and ball have raised hundreds of dollars for the Sawatzky Cup donation fund to Rare Voices Australia.

And this is what I wrote the other week: 

"Cooper is starring for the Scorchers in the Big Bash and I have no doubt he will one day don the Green and Gold for Australia in cricket! "

And so it has proved, as Cooper was this morning  named in the Australian Test team for the first time, to take on Sri Lanka! And that would be every cricketer's dream in Australia.

Thanks again Paul and best of luck to Cooper in the sub-continent!

JUST 24 hours until the fifth edition of the Sawatzky Cup, proudly presented by Zarraffa's Coffee Currambine and raising funds and awareness for Rare Voices Australia!

With a field of more than 100 and a forecast of 28-30C tops it is shaping as a great day!

THANKS once again to all our amazing sponsors, without whom the Sawatzky Cup would not be possible!

Sponsors' signage is now  up on the tournament courts, including Alexander Park Tennis Club's magnificent showcourts.

The official Sawatzky Cup/Rare Voices Australia donation page is now LIVE. We've already passed the $3000 mark - thanks to all who have contributed. All donations of $2 or more are tax deductible. To make a donation, go to https://donate.rarevoices.org....

Just TWO  and a bit weeks to go until Sawatzky Cup V, and the amazing grass courts of Alexander Park Tennis Club are coming up beautifully.

Thanks to the APTC board, staff and members for being a part of the Sawatzky Cup family.

For more on Alexander Park, go to https://www.alexanderpark.com....

ONE of the fun things being a website adminstrator is getting to see who is looking at your page - and where from. And since I launched the Official Sawatzky Cup website only a couple of weeks ago, the "hits" have been coming thick and fast - from all over the place! Great exposure for the tournament, our sponsors and most importantly Rare Voices Australia!
So thank you netizens from the United States, Australia, Singapore, the United Kingdom, New Zealand (yay!), Germany, India, Austria and Hong Kong! 

In early 2020, the Perth, Western Australia family and tennis mates of Ross Sawatzky suffered a brutal blow when the 48-year-old father of two died from an extremely rare autoimmune condition, HLH.

With the Sawatzky family's backing, Rossco's tennis mate Norman Burns launched a tennis day at North Shore Country Club, where Ross, a tennis and sports fanatic,  had been a former president.

The first tournament, held on a scorching day in 2021 attracted just under 40 entrants and had the backing of one local sponsor, PM Piping, and with  Snauwaert Australia supplying the balls.

With no HLH-specific organisation in Perth (or even Australia), funds raised were directed to the Harry Perkins Institute of Medical Research.

The tennis was great but a snap State Government COVID lockdown at 6PM meant a sudden curtailing of post-tennis festivities!

Luckily by tournament #2 COVID lockdowns were becoming a thing of the past; the Sawatzky Cup was growing too, with a field of about 60 men and women.

Now more sponsors were coming on board, chief of these Paul Snell's Complete Commercial Projects.

By Sawatzky Cup #3 though such was the interest more courts were needed; thus the event moved to the grasscourts at Alexander Park Tennis Club.

Now the field was 80 strong, with a dozen sponsors on board - and our target charity shifted to Rare Voices Australia the peak body helping more than two million Aussies (young and old) facing rare illness and disease - like HLH which proved fatal to Rossco.

The Sawatzky Cup's aim is to generate not just funds for Rare Voices Australia, but to bring the great work it does nationally to wider attention.

And every year we raise a glass (of Shelter beer or  Swings & Roundabouts wine) to a great dad and good mate gone but not forgotten.

The official 2025 Sawatzky Cup/Rare Voices Australia donation page is now LIVE. All donations of $2 or more are tax deductible.

 https://donate.rarevoices.org....

Much appreciation to highly respected WA sports journalist Glen Quartermain for the lead piece on the Sawatzky Cup in his weekly Sunday Times column. See below in the Media and Comms section to read the article. Thanks Quarters!

Congratulations to Tim Lau, of the Scarborough Scallywags team, who is the 100th player to enter! 

We now have a record tournament field of 105 entrants! 

The Sawatzky Cup 2025 Grasscourt Classic, presented by Zarraffa's Coffee Currambine Drive Thru, will be held on Saturday January 11 2025 at Alexander Park Tennis Club, Menora, Perth, Western Australia.

The unique format - a Davis Cup/Fed Cup type team event - with a mix of round robin and knockout semifinals/finals - ensures entrants get plenty of tennis in a competitive but FUN atmosphere and that at the end of the day the BEST teams get their names engraved on the Sawatzky Cup.

All entrants get a "goody bag" of stuff, and all women entrants go into the draw for one of EIGHT spa treatment vouchers.

Add in prizes for the first men's and women's teams entered, novelty prizes, raffles with $$$$ worth of prizes, a free sausage sizzle and Alexander Park's famous bar open early for refreshments and it is a great day for all.

Oh, and the winners - thanks to the amazing support of our generous sponsors - will go home with prizes totalling several thousand dollars all up.

What: Sawatzky Cup 2025 Grasscourt Classic, presented by Zarraffa's Coffee Currambine Drive-Thru

Where: Alexander Park Tennis Club, Clyde Road, Menora, Perth

When: Saturday January 11 2025 from 8am 

From 36 entrants and just one sponsor at the inaugural Sawatzky Cup in January 2021 to a maximum field of 132 entrants and more than 20 sponsors for the 2025 event - that's been the spectacular growth of the Sawatzky Cup in just five years.

But the event would just be 'another idea that never got off the ground' if it wasn't for the generosity of our tournament sponsors.

First and foremost of these is Mr Paul Snell, who initially came on board with his business Complete Commercial Projects. Now his new enterprise, Zarraffa's Coffee Currambine Drive Thru, is our 'platinum' sponsor.

Huge thanks too to Scott Gregson, the Australian distributor of Snauwaert tennis gear - including the International Tennis Federation approved balls he supplies for the tournament. All players rave about the quality of these balls.

Mr Michael Connelly of PM Piping was our original sponsor and he and the company continue to be on board.

DV Buyers Agency has also stepped up to the plate to become a major sponsor; thanks Dan and Violeta!

Arc Infrastructure is another major cup contributor and I thank Martin Holland and all the Arc Infrastructure team for their amazing support.

YONEX Australia provides close to $2000 worth of awesome racquet bags as prizes.

MAXUM Watches, an Australian based company, generously supplies some very cool wristwatches for EACH of our men's and women's winners.

Busselton's SHELTER Brewing Co. is the Official Beer for the Sawatzky Cup - thanks Tom and team SHELTER.

For 2025 we also welcome new sponsor Champion Electrical. Thanks Tim and the team at Champion Electrical!

And on behalf of the Sawatzky family, Rare Voices Australia and all of the competitors, a warm thank you to all of our other FANTASTIC sponsors/brands and partners of the Sawatzky Cup:

N-Hance Home Loans
Millman Chauffeur
The Racquet Shop
LetGo BNB
Aviso WA Insurance
KleenAz Window and Pressure Cleaning
Tennis Excellence
Swings & Roundabouts Winery
Slater Gartrell Sports
EvaKool Iceboxes
Alexander Park Tennis Club
Umbertos Continental Deli
Scotty's Media
MaxiBlock

If YOUR brand/business would like to know more about sponsorship opportunites for the Sawatzky Cup, please contact Tournament Director Norman Burns via email (norman@normanburns.com) or give him a call. (0439 424 185)

Likewise if you would like to get a team together for what is a competitive but FUN day's tennis, with great prizes for a fantastic cause.