While no exact dates for the season had been locked in at the time of writing, the on-court action is set to begin in early October.
Players will then pause for a mid-season break before Christmas, not returning for the back half until the end of January, with grand finals expected to take place on the last weekend of February.
The general structure is set to undergo few alterations, though the season will be shorter than 2025-26.
Tightening the schedule has been a priority for new association president Ben McEvoy, the competition working to ensure weekend tennis isn’t too steep a commitment for players.
Match formats involve each member of an eight-player team playing three sets, meaning participants usually see most of their Saturdays taken up playing several matches.
It’s less than ideal for those involved for the sport’s social aspect, or with young families, though the association has only discussed making alterations.
“At this stage, we're looking to stick with what we've had, but the whole scenario around Saturday afternoon tennis is very different to what it was when I grew up 30 years ago, so we are open to adapting to fit in with life in 2026,” McEvoy said.
One change to the senior divisions will be the introduction of a longer intermission during the season alongside the juniors, having previously run all the way through to March with only a short Christmas break.
“I’ve pushed that bit shorter season so that it's not as big a commitment for people and then at my end to that also allows a bit more opportunity for some club stuff,” McEvoy said.
“If we have an extra weekend or two off, it gives an opportunity to do some events at club level.”
To further free up players’ weekends, the association will also have two rounds held on a Friday night this season.
That is a new addition, while the association will bring back its gather round for a second year in December, where the senior divisions mix teams and take part in a fun and non-competitive day of action which also raises funds.
It’s understood at the time of writing that two divisions will make up the seniors and the association is wanting to have more teams competing than the nine that played last season.
Meanwhile, there is also expected to be no changes made to the junior set-up, still consisting of three divisions, with the association boasting strong participation in this space.
A total of 31 teams featured across the three grades in 2025-26 and a similar number is expected to enter this time around.
McEvoy also stated the association had gathered interest from new clubs in different towns that are interested in entering teams.
More details about the 2026-27 season will be revealed at an association meeting taking place in the coming weeks.
In 2025-26, Echuca 1 took out the senior division one title, defeating clubmate Echuca 2 in the grand final.
Meanwhile, Colbinabbin — whose captain is McEvoy — beat Echuca 4 to win the division two championship.
In the junior competitions, Tongala won the title again in division A, Rochester 5 won division B and Echuca 17 was crowned champion in division C.
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