Baptist minister Mark Tronson, now 57, says that he became aware of the lack of an Australian tennis chaplain when he met tennis star Sandy Mayer in 1981 at a tour fellowship evening in the Sydney home of Bible Society stalwart, Tom Treseder.
"Although now we can look back and see that there have been a number people who have served as a chaplain and friend to tennis professionals, at that time there was no such person for either the Australian professional tour or for Australian tennis in general," M V Tronson explained.
So Australian tennis became one of Mark Tronson's target sports once he established the Australian Sports and Leisure Ministry (SLM) in 1982, in association with Heads of Churches. This became a faith-financed based ministry and was an extremely fruitful (if stressful) time over eighteen years for Mark and his wife Delma.
In mid-1985 M V Tronson was ready to open discussions with the tennis fraternity, having established chaplaincies in cricket, rugby league, AFL, motor racing, PGA, Basketball, yachting and others.
His initial visit to Sydney's White City bore fruit, and this further led to an invitation to both the Australian Open in Melbourne and Queensland Tennis in Brisbane where chaplaincy appointments were made. One of his appointments, Tim Harland in Queensland, continues his ministry to this day.
The most significant tennis link was, however, receiving Christian support from Margaret Court in Perth. This was achieved through our Sydney yachting friends Hugh and Jeanine Treharne, who were in Freemantle for the America's Cup. Hugh was racing and was the tactician on Australia II in the 1983 winning the America's Cup.
"Jeanine was an international yachting champion in her own right and the yachting chaplain. Jeanine, a good friend of Margaret Court and her husband, Barry, introduced me as the Australian cricket chaplain to Margaret Court.
"Margaret Court welcomed me warmly into her home, and subsequently, the continued ministry Margaret has offered me in sports ministry over these many years has been wonderfully and graciously encouraging," M V Tronson said.
Margaret Court is not only a Grand Slam Tennis phenomenon and national sporting icon, but has also been a stalwart in Christian ministry. Margaret Court runs a mega church in Perth which has an emphasis on evangelism. Her prayer ministry for the healing of people with serious illnesses, diseases and debilitating disabilities is well known across the Pentecostal world.
"My wife Delma has always been a very keen tennis player and loves watching the tennis on television, and was very pleased when I invited Margaret Court to be the keynote speaker at our inaugural Sports and Leisure Ministry conference in 1988," M V Tronson recalled.
Tennis ministry continues in many different ways across the international tour. When appropriate, players can find fellowship groups, bible studies, travelling chaplains-come-friends who provide personal and pastoral encouragement, home church support when they are not playing, and overall various types of prayer networks.
"Now, nine years after being released from SLM by Heads of Churches, to Well-Being Australia focusing on 'athlete respite', Margaret Court and I remain in contact," M V Tronson agreeably stated.
"Delma often recalls how inadequate a tennis player she felt when chatting to Margaret Court, yet both rejoiced their togetherness in Jesus Christ."