Hugh Bergin came up with the idea to run a tennis tournament to raise money for breast cancer when he was 10 years old, inspired by his grandmother's battle with the disease several years earlier.
Hugh Bergin has raised more than $15,000 for breast cancer research since 2023 in honour of his grandmother by running his own annual tennis tournament, and he’s only 13 years old.
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Eugene, his grandmother, lost her fight against breast cancer several years ago, and Hugh said he doesn’t want families to go through what they went through because it wasn’t nice.
Hugh decided to use this experience to take the fight to breast cancer and raise money for the Wodonga Regional Cancer Centre so that people can get treatment close to home.
“We wanted families to have the best experience they can while going through that,” he said.
“So, we started the tournament here in Wahgunyah to raise money for the cancer centre.
“Over the first three years we raised more than $10,000.
“It was held here (solely) in Wahgunyah but we had too many people for the four courts, so we've had to move it to Wodonga.
“We're keeping the roots here for our junior event, and the graded event is in Wodonga on the grass courts.
“With Wodonga being a bigger area, we're hoping that moving it into town will bring more exposure and hopefully it will get a lot of interest.”
Hugh watches Bonnie McDougall playing tennis during his junior event held at Wahgunyah Tennis Club.
Hugh’s parents, Katie and Sean Bergin, are immensely proud of their son, who came up with the idea on his own.
Sean said Hugh, Indigo Junior Citizen of the Year in 2025, takes on all the responsibilities of running the tournament himself, the volunteers and sponsors, with mum and dad helping wherever he needs them.
“He came to us one night and said, ‘I want to run a tennis tournament’,” Sean said.
“He came back with a notebook and said he’s been working on this for two weeks.
“And the tennis clubs have gotten behind it, which is amazing.”
The event attracts about 100 players plus parents and spectators, with kids as young as four years old participating.
Hugh’s mum Katie said before the event was moved to Wodonga they didn't have the junior events they had this year, so having little kids playing is completely new.
“Half of them have never played in a tournament,” Katie said.
“It's exciting for them to see why they go to tennis lessons.
“The junior day at Wahgunyah has turned into a nice little family-oriented day; the other one in Wodonga is for adults and more competent players.”
The fundraiser, Racquets Against Breast Cancer, is held across two weekends to players of all ages, with the junior tournament in Wahgunyah and the graded tournament the following week in Wodonga.
The event raised more than $5,000 this year to add to more than $10,000 raised in previous years.
Hugh is elated with the results and grateful for all the support that has been given to make his tournament possible.
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