Introducing… The Barge
/We are thrilled to launch The Barge, a new community forum just for Friends of The Tennis Podcast.
Over the past couple of years, we have frequently received emails from listeners who told us they love tennis but don’t have many, if any friends who like to talk about the sport. Many of them have become (like us) disillusioned with the social media platforms run by Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg; the toxicity, the unpleasantness, and longed for somewhere safe and enjoyable to meet fellow tennis fans and talk about the sport they love.
Simon Briggs, Matt, Catherine, Pam Shriver and David, Australian Open 2024
We have been building The Barge for the last 18 months, conceptually initially, and more recently in conjunction with our partners at Supporting Cast, who help us to deliver 25 bonus podcasts each year, just for Friends of The Tennis Podcast.
It will sit on our Friends of The Tennis Podcast platform, alongside the excellent new monthly tennis column written by Hannah Wilks, and Hannah will spend plenty of time on The Barge, along with Catherine, David, Matt and hopefully many of you.
In Hannah’s most recent column, she wrote about the role Peter Bodo’s Tennis World, an online community from more than 15 years ago, played in her connecting with the sport, and we want The Barge to do the same for you. It won’t be the finished product when launched, but it will evolve over time, and we want you to play a part in that by letting us know what you want it to be.
So why is it called The Barge? Well, because that’s what we fondly call the spot in Melbourne where we have spent many a wonderful hour talking tennis (and life) with our friend Pam Shriver.
If you are a Friend already, welcome aboard!
