That’s the view of Albury Tennis Association president Ken Wurtz, who sees no need to play pennant in January.

Several players have questioned the late start to the resumption of play after the Christmas and New Year break, concerned they are not playing during January when the interest level in the sport is at a peak due to the Australian Open and local tournaments.

The popular summer pennant season starts on October 8 and breaks for Christmas for 49 days, from December 17 to this Saturday.

Pennant grand finals will be played on March 31.

Wurtz, who has been president many years, said the late start had never been an issue for players.

“No one is really pushing to change it,” Wurtz said yesterday.

“It’s been going for more than 48 years and we’ve never started earlier.

“Unless someone wants to bring it up, it won’t change.”

Albury resumes much later than the Hume and Wangaratta associations — both started back after the Christmas break on January 14.

In comparison, Cricket Albury-Wodonga resumed on January 7 with Twenty20 matches.

Wurtz said the Albury tennis season had generally mirrored the school holiday period.

“We always have a late start mainly because of school holidays and the Australian Open, which a lot of people tend to go to,” he said.

“The Hume league starts a bit earlier but we’ve always been associated with The Scots School, mainly because they used to field a lot of teams.

“They still field a few teams but not as many as they used to.

“Teams are down on numbers.”

Wurtz said the holiday period, combined with tournaments such as the Margaret Court Cup and Wodonga Grasscourt Championships, meant many players were unavailable for pennant in January.

“We are pretty snowed under with other tournaments during January,” Wurtz said.

“The Johnson Cup takes a few kids away.

“It’s mainly because of the school kids that we don’t start earlier.

“I probably wouldn’t be pushing for pennant to start earlier.”