Beechworth Lawn Tennis Club chiefs have told senators they were the victims of corruption in being snubbed for a federal sports grant.
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President Andy Carr and secretary-treasurer Garry Wallace testified to a Senate inquiry on Thursday examining the program overseen by former Sport Minister Bridget McKenzie.
The club sought $500,000 for new courts and received a merit score of 78 out of 100, but was rejected for cash.
After learning of the political calculations used to determine successful applicants, Mr Carr said his club "felt cheated".
"We're not lines in a spreadsheet to be colour coded and arbitrarily dismissed just because of where we live or how useful we are in a political process," he told the Melbourne hearing.
"We're people, this matters to us.
"So for this process to be what I believe to be so comprehensively corrupted puts us....in an extremely difficult position.
"We shouldn't be here, we shouldn't be in discussions with lawyers and journalists and senators.
"We should be in discussions with contractors, building tennis courts."
Mr Wallace testified about his disillusionment.
"We did our absolute best, ticked every box, had a very large amount of money already in the bank and we missed out and as it turns out that process appears to have been corrupted," Mr Wallace said.
Mr Wallace said after failing to secure funding, Indigo Shire had suggested the club use other money earmarked for the project.
He said a representative had suggested a storeroom at Baarmutha Park be used for changing, given the cash would only run to four courts.
"To us that's just not good enough," Mr Wallace said.
The club was invited to testify last Friday after national publicity about its legal action.
Mr Carr said it would also provide a written submission to the inquiry, as the Albury Thunder rugby league has already done.
The tennis club is seeking a Victorian sport infrastructure grant, from a program with a cap of $250,000.
Its own kitty is now $800,000, largely from selling its old courts in 2018, with interest lifting it from $700,000 at the time it sought the federal grant.
