The Barty effect: World No.1 turns footy-mad Indigenous kids on to tennis

Anzac Leidig has been telling the tale of a tennis dreamer around the Northern Territory for the past 12 months, but it is on the Tiwi Islands where he has noted the biggest impact.

The 40-year-old, who spent 15 years coaching for Evonne Goolagong’s Foundation before moving to Darwin, is mindful the kids from Fitzroy and Melville Islands are footy mad.

But nowadays, it is not just the sporting exploits of the famous Rioli clan that are followed, according to the Ngarrindjeri man.

Tennis coach Anzac Leidig, pictured teaching in Darwin, says Ashleigh Barty has been an inspiration to Indigenous kids. Credit: Tennis NT

Leidig, whose mother is Indigenous and his father German, said the islanders have fallen for Ashleigh Barty as well after her famous Wimbledon win and ascension to top of the rankings.

“It is a totally different culture in some communities, and it is not like they are all watching telly like a lot of other Aussies,” he said.

“But when I go out to the Tiwi Islands, they talk a lot about Evonne to me, and a lot about Barty as well. Her name is really growing out there.”

With fellow world No. 1 Novak Djokovic capturing the headlines for the past 12 days, the spotlight on the Australian champion has been less intense than it usually would be.

Barty was brilliant in Adelaide on her return to tennis. Her preparation has been flawless.

The hopes of a nation rest on her shoulders again as she bids to become the first local since Chris O’Neil in 1978 to win the crown jewel of Australian tennis. The expectations are high.

Pat Rafter, who has hit with his fellow Queenslander occasionally through the years, believes his mate will be approaching this Australian Open with the manner he once did.

“Sometimes it’s fun to realise that the fact is that it’s not just another tournament,” he said. “No, it is the one I want to do bloody well at, and it’s why I have done all this work. ”

Number one: Ashleigh Barty. Credit: Eddie Jim

Irrespective of how Barty, a semi-finalist at Melbourne Park two years ago, fares over the next fortnight, what is indisputable is the impact she has had on tennis in Australia.

From the Tiwi Islands to Phillip Island, and from Rottnest Island to Fraser Island, the Barty effect is clear according to those tasked with spreading the love of tennis.

When launching the summer of tennis in December, Tennis Australia said more than 1.5 million Australians played in the preceding 12 months, with kids participation up nearly 30 per cent.

Paul Rowbottom, who was running a coaching clinic at San Remo Tennis Club on Phillip Island a week ago, said the Barty brand is everywhere.

“It is the paraphernalia. Even if the little girls are not talking about her, they are wearing Barty T-Shirts or using the Barty racquet,” he said

“Through lockdown at Wimbledon, it got a lot of notoriety. It was a big story at a time when we were coming through a hard winter.

“Over the course of her winning the French Open to her winning Wimbledon, there has been a big upturn with girls and since Wimbledon, it has been great. I would say it has had a definite impact.”

In Perth, Scarborough Tennis Club director and coach Rick Willsmore said the 25-year-old’s emergence as a world beater has proven a tonic for Australian tennis.

“Her fantastic attitude and humbleness, combined with an all-court game and the variety of her shots makes her a great ambassador for the sport and country,” he said.

“Ash Barty is getting kids on the tennis court, with more girls in particular keen to take up a sport which now has a great role model.”

Rick Willsmore

“Ash Barty is getting kids on the tennis court, with more girls in particular keen to take up a sport which now has a great role model.”

As a coach, there is an added bonus to her success. Willsmore said her all-court variety offers a model that allows coaches to show tennis is about more than just power.

“It is nice to have the influence of Barty’s all-court game and patient, tactical play, which is refreshing from what can be a very one dimensional baseline … style on the Pro Tour,” he said.

Australians grew up listening to the deeds of the Golden Generation of greats on the radio. When Rafter was winning US Opens, television was the preferred medium.

But as Willsmore said, the kids at his club are logging onto YouTube to catch clips of Barty and other female stars.

Rowbottom, who as a teenager travelled with Barty’s coach Craig Tyzzer while representing Victoria in a national championship, is the father of two primary school girls.

For his daughters, it was an interview on the podcast Fierce Girls which caught their attention, not the dazzling manner with which she plays the sport.

“My family calls Ash Barty ‘Bart Bart’. When my daughter picks up her racquet, she says it is ‘Bart Bart’s racquet,’” he said.

The dual grand slam champion Barty, told by The Age and Sydney Morning Herald on Saturday about her impact on kids across the country, described it as “very cool”.

“It is nice for me to be able to see it personally with my own nieces and nephew. I think that was probably the most exciting thing for me,” Barty said.

“I’m just trying to be me, and I think ultimately I’m trying to bring out the best in myself. If I am able to bring a smile particularly to kids - boys and girls around Australia - and am able to bring a smile to our faces and bring some interest to our sport, I think that is really exciting.”

Whether she can end the great drought in Australian tennis will be known by the end of this fortnight.

The right-hander has won more than one-third of the tournaments she has played since 2019. But even the very best end tournaments defeated more often than triumphant. No matter how she fares on the court, Barty will be a winner with the kids in the Tiwis and beyond, just like Australia’s other great Indigenous champion.

“I think there’s something about what Evonne has, in what Ash has, you can just see there’s a different aura about them,” Leidig said.

“There’s something special in their smile, in the way they present themselves. They have a magneticness that Indigenous kids just look at, and they are inspired, I guess, to then explore whatever their own skills and talents are.”

– with Scott Spits

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