Rally4Ever Free Tennis and Pickleball Programs in Sydney

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About Rally4Ever

Rally4Ever was founded by former professional tennis player Louise Pleming, who still works as a tennis commentator for television. She is the driving force and passion behind the organisation, which is a charity with the aim of helping people’s mental health and improving their social network and physical health. The charity has several well-known celebrity ambassadors. Currently, there are new Rally4Ever classes popping up all over the place and the organisation is expanding across Australia. Rally4Ever is free to attend and therefore allows those of modest means to play tennis (and more recently also pickleball).



Who can attend?

Rally4Ever welcomes everyone. No questions are asked and anyone can take part. People come from all walks of life and adults of all ages join in, from young people in their late teens or early twenties to the elderly up to about eighty years old. It is particularly suitable for beginners or those with limited experience, although many taking part quickly become pretty good through practice by regularly attending the classes. One person even progressed to become a tennis coach after about a year of attending the sessions. New people attend all the time.

Some people may regularly attend a Rally4Ever, whilst others come every now and again. Some stick to just one location, whilst others may attend two or more locations. It is very flexible.

Those attending find the programs help them with issues such as loneliness and depression and physical fitness.

A couple of the programs are attended by those linked to the Flourish organisation, which helps those who may have different mental health conditions, such as autism or learning disabilities. Participants attend with their carer, and it's a chance for them to do something they probably wouldn’t usually do, and they really benefit from taking part.

What should I bring?

Tennis rackets can be provided, but you may wish to bring your own if you have a preferred racket or a good one you like to use.

It’s best to bring a bottle of water, although most (but not all) of the locations should have access to a water fountain or tap. Having your own bottle of water is likely to be a lot easier to get to.

Try to wear suitable clothing such as a t-shirt and sports shorts or tracksuit trousers and trainers. Although having said that, some people even turn up wearing jeans, which is not really ideal, but they manage.

What happens in the classes?

Each Rally4Ever location is run slightly differently depending on the coach for that location and their style and will change from week to week, but generally speaking, the class will focus on practising tennis skills such as forehand, backhand, volleys and serves. You may, for example, be asked to line up and take a turn at returning the ball to the coach, doing a forehand or backhand. At some classes, there may be about 10 minutes spent practising throwing the ball in the air and doing the overarm serve into the correct box. Various games are played to practice tennis skills, such as one called ‘Community’ where several people stand on either side of the net and try to return the ball to the other side.

Which location should I attend?

Possibly the best location for you will be the one(s) closest to where you live or work, but here is a rough idea of what to expect at some of them, listed in order of class during the week. Why not try them out?


Camperdown Rally4Ever, currently from 10am to 11:30am (though this may change soon) on Mondays, is pretty laid back and is currently being run by Shaun, who steps in to help out when the regular coaches are off. Sometimes, there are different tennis-style games played, which are fun even if they may vaguely resemble an orthodox game of tennis. Towards the end of the session, a proper game may be attempted, but the standard will not be like watching Wimbledon. Sometimes people go to the cafe nearby afterwards for a coffee.


Narwee is another fairly new Rally4Ever. Coach Barry focuses on getting the right technique for the different types of shots and breaking down the structure of the tennis moves. This is one of the smaller classes at this stage as it usually takes a while for numbers to build up, which does have the advantage of lower coach-to-pupil ratio and hence more one-to-one coaching is possible.


The Primrose Park, Cremorne Rally4Ever is quite new and the first Rally4Ever on the north side of Sydney. It is set in an idyllic waterfront park location with distant harbour views and you are surrounded by tall trees. The quality of the play here is higher than average and the class is challenging.


Ashfield Rally4Ever at 11am on Tuesdays is possibly the only Sydney Rally4Ever with the rarity and luxury of a grass tennis court. So if you are worried about falling over, maybe try this one as you will get a softer landing. The coach Mark provides a running commentary throughout the session, encouraging participants. Those taking part usually play a type of tennis game but with about three players on each side of the court. If there are more people attending than six, then they will sit out on the side until they switch positions, and then they come on for a turn and someone else gets a rest. A range of abilities take part. After the Rally4Ever morning tea is put on, which is provided by the local Inner West Council.




Maroubra Rally4Ever at 2pm on Tuesdays at Snape Park is a short 10-minute walk or short bus ride from the end of the light rail line at Juniors Kingsford or there is the 392 bus, which can be caught from near Redfern station. Maroubra has a female coach (should you prefer a woman, like some women prefer a female doctor). She focuses on good technique and trains individuals in the correct way of hitting the ball with the racquet and also the correct body and feet position. This class is probably the only one involving a warm-up which involves jogging to the net and back and doing various exercises to and from the net for a couple of minutes at the start of the class. Usually, there is the opportunity to stay on and practice afterwards if you wish, as the courts are not booked for another half an hour.


Woolloomooloo Rally4Ever is where it all began. It takes place from 9am until 10:30am on Wednesdays. The coach here is Louise Pleming, the founder (or Shaun if she is away). This one starts the earliest in the morning at 9am. It usually attracts the largest numbers of all the Sydney Rally4Evers. This means you can meet more people and you get more of a rest, so it’s less intense which you may prefer or not. You should get a chance to rest as you wait in line for your go so it’s a good one for beginners or those who want to ease themselves into things gently. Usually, some of the people playing will go to a local cafe afterwards to socialise.


Strathfield Rally4Ever at 10am on Thursdays has had several different coaches recently. There are usually about 5 or 6 regulars who attend and you will get more of a chance to practice and play, but less time to have a rest at this one. Usually, everyone is on the court practising rallies or having some sort of game.




This is held at Ultimo Community Centre. Please see the separate article about this class here.




Miranda is currently being run by Louise and Shaun and is the best one for those in the Sutherland Shire area.


Paddington Rally4Ever at 12pm on Fridays, is located close to Edgcliffe train station and probably has the most idyllic location. The setting, in Trumper Park, is like a little oasis in the big city surrounded by parkland.

This class has grown a lot in the past couple of years. After a few weeks of only two or three people attending, it has now grown to become one of the largest Rally4Ever sessions (probably the second largest after Woolloomooloo). Some of those attending also do the Woolloomooloo class as the two locations are not too far away from one another.

Coach Steve manages to run the session so that it caters for the wide range of abilities that attend from low beginner to intermediate levels and drives those who have become good to get even better.

The tennis centre has a cafe with excellent coffee ($5), so often people have a coffee together afterwards.




In addition to the above, there are also NSW regional tennis programs in other areas including Armidale, Bar Beach Newcastle, Bourke, Condobolin, Coffs Harbour, Girilambone, Grafton, Gulargambone, Hay, Lake Cargelligo, Nyngan, Parkes, Pottsville, Rockley, Tamworth, Wagga Wagga, Warren, West Port Macquarie, Wollongong and Yass with new locations being added all the time.

There are also a few programs run in Victoria, Queensland and South Australia.

Bear in mind that most of the Rally4Evers stop during school holidays, as there are often school holiday tennis programs that occupy the tennis courts at that time. So check to make sure it is running before turning up. Also, if the weather is rainin,g then the class will most probably be cancelled. This may be for safety reasons, as the courts can become slippery when they are wet. Some of the Rally4Evers have their own WhatsApp groups so the coach can communicate any changes to the class and players can let the coach know if they can’t make it, etc.

Further information:

More information can be found on the Rally4Ever website - link here.
Have a look at the Rally4Ever social media pages on Facebook and Instagram to see lots of photos to give you a better idea of what to expect.

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