Waikato Bays development officer Paul Evans, who was appointed to the position last year, also belongs to the Hawke's Bay committee.
"There's going to be much more autonomy, which is clear, but we still have to be part of the wider Waikato organisation," he says.
Penny, who was recently elected to represent the Bay on the Waikato Bays board. says remaining as a sub-region of Tennis Waikato Bays "still has advantages and some synergy in belonging to a bigger group".
In 2008, the former Sparc (now SportNZ) applied pressure on the code to restructure nationally into six broad regions.
After some deliberation the Hawkes Bay Tennis Association, which ran tennis for decades, was disestablished and an alliance was forged with Waikato Bays, which embraces Waikato, Thames Valley, Western Bay of Plenty, Bay of Plenty and Poverty Bay.
Bay businessman Penny says "the initial amalgamation into regions made structural sense but, unfortunately, the local organisation was disbanded which with the benefit of hindsight was a mistake".
A regional development officer role was created in Hawke's Bay with much fanfare and endorsement but the lack of structure created challenges in pulling everyone together here to achieve goals.
"The lack of a local organisation made getting local funding a challenge and we need funding for our development programmes," he says.
The problem isn't isolated to the Bay so, consequently, a structural review is under way.
"We're going to have more priority not just on clubs here but also schools to make sure kids are getting exposure to teams and competitions," says Penny, delighted with the boost in numbers, especially at school level.
Leslie Wilkinson, CEO of Tennis Waikato Bays, said: "We are just starting to embark on consultation with the sub-regions but already it is very clear that things must change".
"To achieve our goals or higher level of participation and more playing opportunities at all level of tennis we must have local people, with a passion for tennis involved more. This will mean a different structure in the future," says Wilkinson, mindful other sports are wooing people and several clubs have struggled with membership.
Evans is making progress in the Bay with more than 1800 primary pupils having participated in the Hot Shots programme. Junior participation at all levels is growing from secondary school competitions through to representative fixtures.
Plans are under way for the 2015 Hawke's Bay Junior Open to be held in December, luring up to 50 entrants from an Australian academy to provide an international flavour.
Finn Reynolds' selection in the New Zealand junior Davis Cup team to the Oceania regional finals in Shepparton, in Victoria, Australia, in April is a success story from the Bay.
The 15-year-old, who Winter coached at Hawke's Bay Lawn club, is the national 16 age-group singles and doubles champion. He has moved to Auckland to be part of Tennis NZ's elite athlete development programme under former Davis Cup coach Marcel Vos.
"We have started to make some good progress with tennis locally but the challenge is out to tennis clubs and wider community to provide the support we need to get Hawke's Bay tennis back to its glory days," says Penny.
Forced merger 'accident waiting to happen'
Waikato-Bays Tennis has had more bailouts than Greece, according to Glenn Morgan.
"It's just been an accident waiting to happen, so none of this any real surprise is it?" says Morgan, a former high-ranking official of the code in Waikato before the enforced amalgamation in 2008.
"I left the then Waikato board in 2007 and wasn't supportive of the amalgamation direction as I felt the vital volunteer base that tennis [and every other sport] relies on would be eroded through bureaucracy and the inevitable 'head office' mentality that occurs," he says on finding out Hawke's Bay are on a path to gain autonomy, albeit remaining under the umbrella of Waikato Bays.
Morgan feels the indoor centre, Perry Arena in Hamilton, is overly expensive and can become a regional burden.
"The real issue is that over $1 million [of mostly public money] has been sunk into this failure since 2008 and that doesn't include the 'bailouts'."
He says that includes the $100,000 Tennis NZ loaned and, which was "written off" recently, and the more than $600,000 that clubs have had to pay in affiliation fees.
"And what do the clubs and the game in general have to show for it?"
He says a genuine effort was made in 2010 to initiate some changes in a bid to turn things around but this was unsuccessful.
"It's a pity because that probably would have worked and things would have been quite different now.
"In all honesty, some of the things that have gone on would be great material for a reality TV show - maybe they should do one to get some money," says Morgan, hoping "some quality people" will step forward to take run the show "for the game's sake".
In 2010, Ian Purdon, of Hastings, who is no longer involved with tennis, sounded the death knell for the merger and urged Waikato-Bays to perform better.
