Kristina Sanjevic’s tennis career first started at age six in the basement of her house, hitting sponge balls with a racquet while her father patiently taught her the different strokes he learned from reading tennis magazines.
Rod McMahon threw his first curling rock at 11, more than 50 years ago, at the Derrick Curling Club under the watchful eye of his parents.
While Kristina and Rod are at different stages of life and in their sports, they both have seen their journeys as athletes and their respective sporting communities shaped by the Saville Centre.
The centre, named after Edmonton businessman and philanthropist Bruce Saville, opened in January 2004. Its eight indoor tennis courts and 10 sheets of ice for curlers have provided a state-of-the-art facility that supports both the university and the wider community with a suite of physical wellness and recreational activities in several different sports. At the same time, the facility has also turned into a national training centre for both curlers and tennis players.
“The Saville Centre has been instrumental in my career, but I’ve also seen it make a huge difference to the tennis community here in Edmonton,” says Kristina, who was ranked as the top player in the province from 2006 to 2011 and number 1 in Canada in her junior career. “Everyone is welcome. There’s lots of different leagues, so it doesn’t matter what level a player is at. Tennis is a great way for people to stay active. There’s only two other major clubs in Edmonton, and both are private. The Saville has made the sport accessible for so many other people.”
Sanjevic moved to the centre when it opened after moving from her basement to the outdoor courts in Londonderry and the domed facility at Michener Park. The facility proved to be an excellent incubator to improve on and off the court.
“The programs were so strong for young, competitive players at the Saville. I’d do three hours of tennis and one hour of training in the fitness centre five days a week. It was an unbelievable opportunity,” she says. “There was enough court time for high-performance players, and having the gym in the same facility is such a big advantage.”
Sanjevic joined the U of A varsity tennis team in 2013, when she began studying for her Bachelor of Arts in Sport, Recreation and Tourism degree.
“[Saville Centre tennis manager] Russ Sluchinski approached me when I was in Grade 12 and asked if I would be interested in coming to the U of A and playing for the Pandas,” says Sanjevic, who was named the U of A’s 2018 Female Athlete of the Year. “It was the best decision for me. I could stay here in Edmonton close to family and still receive some amazing opportunities to play nationally and internationally. Russ provided us with a team of great coaches. He helped secure a number of scholarships that made it financially sustainable for me to compete and study.”
Rod came to the other side of the Saville after the Balmoral Curling Club announced it would shut down after almost 50 years of operations and move its leagues to the centre.
“I had curled at the Balmoral since the mid-1970s, so it was a real change for me,” says McMahon, whose career highlight was winning the high school provincial championship while attending Harry Ainlay High School. “I was a little worried about what the atmosphere would be like moving from a traditional club to a large, multi-sport facility.”
What surprised McMahon was how quickly the curling community managed to establish the same atmosphere in a much larger setting. And there were some added benefits that he didn’t initially realize.
“The Saville Centre is recognized by Curling Canada as a National Training and Development Centre, so you get to see the best players in the world on a regular basis down here, world champions such as Rachel Homan and Brendan Bottcher,” says McMahon, who also worked as an ice maker at the facility until retirement in 2023. “It gives other people something to aspire to, even an old-timer like me.”
In addition to rubbing elbows and throwing rocks alongside some of the world’s best, McMahon also sees the centre as an important place for curling in an era when traditional clubs now face serious financial challenges.
“We’ve lost clubs in the city recently because they simply can’t afford to maintain or replace aging equipment. The U of A and the Saville have been a real boon to the sport in that sense,” says McMahon. “What’s more, having it here in this larger complex exposes curling to many more people who would otherwise not know about it, whether they are five or 85.”
And the ice sheets are never busier at the Saville than during the seniors’ league on Wednesdays and Fridays, which still has a waiting list. “I curled in the same league as my late father Jack up until 2020. We had so much fun. I also curled against my son Kyle, who works at the Saville and Foote Field as the operations coordinator, in the Monday night men's league at the Saville for many years,” Rod says. “I’ve enjoyed this sport — it has given me so much. Saville has been a big part of that because it’s really helped preserve the sport for me and the coming generations.”
Sanjevic, who has moved into coaching, agrees. She sees last fall’s opening of the new $6.5 million Saville Tennis Centre, which features six outdoor courts that are covered by a dome in the winter months, as a great development for the sport and the community that enjoys it.
“My nieces Ela and Isidora Trkulja, and my nephew, Attila Sanjevic, are also training at the Saville with some amazing coaches. It’s exciting to see how they have developed with access to these kinds of facilities. But it’s also great for me to see the same people who knew me when I was embarking on my tennis journey, and they are still out there playing with such passion. That’s what the Saville represents for me. An opportunity for everybody and a place where you can achieve your potential.”
Discover what the Saville Centre has to offer.
Saville Centre — 20 years by the numbers
- 2004 —1,200 curlers and 275 tennis players joined as members
- 2023 — 1.5 million users
- Home to 12 varsity teams in tennis, curling, volleyball, basketball, football and soccer
- Home curling rink to an Olympic Champion, nine world curling champions, 24 national champions and 68 Provincial / Conference champions
- Has hosted seven National Under 14 Tennis Championships and 14 Under 18 International Tennis Federation Events
- Home court of the Canadian Senior Women’s National basketball team
- Home of Ortona Gymnastics Club
Saville Centre - a timeline
- January 2004 — first building in the complex opens with eight indoor tennis courts, 10 ice sheets for curling and a state-of-the-art fitness centre
- September 2011 — the west wing opens with facilities for volleyball, basketball, badminton and gymnastics
- July 2023 — Saville Tennis Centre opens with six outdoor hard courts (two clay courts are planned for the future).
- October 2023 — Saville Tennis Centre Dome opens