tennis
NINETY YEARS OF TENNIS
by Wendy Kirkby
Published in “Katanning – A Century of Stories” 1988
The oldest of the four sporting clubs which form part of the Katanning Country Club is the Katanning Tennis Club, which came into existence in August 1897, only eight years after the establishment of the town of Katanning. The new club was called the Katanning Lawn Tennis Club, although it was to be sixty-seven years before the club actually played on its own lawn-surfaced courts.
The Club was sponsored by the Resident Magistrate, W.K. Adam, and forty members, who selected Lots 49 and 53 as the site for their courts. These two blocks backed on to each other and faced from Beaufort Street to Amherst Street – opposite where the Katanning Club was later built.
Within a year the surface was cleared and levelled for the establishment of the first of the clay-surface courts, and it was not long before the local tennis enthusiasts were practising their strokes on the new courts.
Unfortunately, the Club was next to a peace-loving soul and the continual plop-plop of the balls drove him to distraction. A number of harsh words passed between the opposing parties, but when the complainant’s pet dog died from eating a sponge used by the players to lessen the noise of their practice, the irate owner crept out in the dead of night and chopped down the net posts! The enraged sportsmen knew at once who the culprit was and their secretary demanded justice, whereupon the defendant apologised, agreed to pay costs, and the case was withdrawn.
With the developing interest in tennis and the growth of the population, the Tennis Club membership grew over the following years, necessitating the building of more courts. By 1920 there were three courts and the Club had developed a strong nucleus of players who began to play matches against Wagin, Albany and Carrolup.
When, in 1923, the inaugural Tennis Country Week Championships were held at Kitchener Park in Perth, Katanning was one of the five clubs who participated. For men only (ladies’ events were introduced in 1927), the local team was N. Rickett, H.D. Koehne and H.W.A. Tyler, who together won the championship title for Katanning.
Koehne, a Lutheran Minister, won the Country Week singles and doubles (with various partners) for many years. His greatest opponent was E.M. (Chappie) Ladyman who at the time represented Carrolup, but who later played for Katanning. These two players met often in the finals at Country Week, local championships and other major tournaments, and the close hard-fought battles were watched keenly by club members who at times laid odds on the outcome!
H.W.A. (Horrie) Tylor, another great player, was associated with the Tennis Club for over thirty years, holding positions on general committee and as captain and president. He was finally honoured with Life Membership in 1952.
By 1925, the Tennis Club had gone from strength to strength, membership was at an all-time high and a new jarrah club house had been erected and a fifth court laid. In this same year the inaugural Katanning Easter Tournament was played, and this event became an annual highlight for the next thirty years. Following the success of the first event, Mr Alex Thomson MLA donated a cup to be presented to the men’s singles champion of the tournament. This cup was called the Thomson Cup, and was much sought after in the following years. Over the first five years, it was won by H.D. Koehne (twice), E.M. Ladyman (twice), and F.E. Butterick, and then in 1932, G.H. Wilson, an impressive 16-year-old, won the event in great style. He went on to win the cup for a total of nine successive years until he left the district in 1942.
In the early 1950s, with a maximum possible number of courts, the Tennis Club investigated the acquisition of adjoining land. However, this was not possible, and the Club was forced to consider moving to an alternative site. In 1957 a committee headed by President Len Rossiter and Vice President Bill Nott approached the Katanning Roads Board for assistance. Land in the Piesse Dam area, called the Braeside Reserve and fronting Synnott Avenue, was chosen. Within a few months a lease was obtained, the site terraced and a plan for twenty tennis courts drawn up by the Council Engineer, Mr John Tozer. It was decided the new courts would be lawn, and soil samples were sent to the Agriculture Department for testing. The Club had to wait twelve months for the results, which unfortunately showed the soil was too salty for grass courts. After such a disappointment the Club decided to leave the project in abeyance until the following season.
As most clubs do from time to time, the Tennis Club went into a slump, with a drop-off in membership and a general lack of active interest from its members. It became difficult to get enough people to attend a working bee and, after several attempts, Dean Rundle – at that time a very young secretary – hit on a novel idea. Spoon Tournaments were very popular, so Dean advertised that on a certain Saturday one would be held. On the day a great number of members arrived ready to enjoy a day’s tennis, only to be greeted by a very determined young secretary, who told them the tournament was cancelled and that they were all to take part in a working bee!
To find a site suitable for grass courts the tennis committee looked at many alternatives over the next few years. Some of the sites considered were at Thomson Park, at the rear of the Town Hall, and an area of 3 to 5 acres (1.2 to 2 ha) adjacent to the ninth tee of the Katanning Golf Club – this site was known as Pinwernying Park.
When in 1963, the Katanning Bowling Club began building its new club in Braeside Road, the Tennis Club promptly looked into the possibility of taking over the old site at Thomson Park, which was already laid out with a grass surface. After extensive and lengthy negotiations with the Bowling Club, the Croquet Club (which adjoined) and the Shire Council, an agreement was finally drawn up by all parties.
The official opening of the new lawn courts took place on 31 October 1964, with the Katanning Tennis Club finally playing on lawn courts after a wait of sixty-seven years! Life Member Vince Cook declared the new courts open and Shire Councillor R.C. Old presented the Club with a new championship honour board on behalf of the Shire President Mr A.R. Kiddie.
Improvements to the existing club house were made over the following years. With additions to the number of courts, the tennis club could offer seven good grass courts to prospective members. During these years there were many hard-working members who helped to make the move to the grass courts possible, and who continued to help develop their club. In recognition of their great efforts, Bill and Judy Nott were made Life Members in 1967, followed by Joyce Hams, Ros Giles and more recently Bronte Rundle.
By 1970, the Club had further grown in membership, and there were discussions toward extending the number of courts and building a larger and more modern club house. Various committees looked at ways to provide the necessary finance for such a development, but there seemed to be no ready solution. It was also evident that grass courts were by no means easy to maintain, and a great amount of time, effort and money was needed to keep them in top condition.
In 1974, the amalgamation of the squash, tennis and golf clubs was mooted. A member of a six-man steering committee from the three clubs set up to investigate the proposal reported to the Tennis Committee, and it was decided to call a special meeting of members to vote on joining the other two sports to form the Country Club. At this meeting a close vote gave the decision to move to the golf club and so, after only twelve years on grass-surface courts, the members were once again to play on a sealed hard-court surface.
However, there was a strong group who decided to remain at the grass courts. They formed themselves into a new club called the Thomson Park Tennis Club and, after negotiations with the Katanning Shire Council, took over the site. The two clubs made a concerted effort to draw in new members and before long the number of players had more than doubled – a bonus for tennis in Katanning.
MORE READING
HISTORY OF TENNIS
WHERE THE GAME WAS INVENTED
The origins of Tennis can be well traced to a 12th–13th-century French handball game called jeu de paume (“game of the palm”). It has been referred to as the immediate offspring which was invented in the 11th century in France. The evolution of this medieval monument can be traced to initially being played with bare hands, like the 16th century which witnessed the invention of the racket and the distinct scoring model. This led to tennis directly, with its name being traced back to the French word “tenez!”, which you had to say to your opponent at the point where you wanted to serve. The fame of tennis quickly overtook that of croquet in England. Continue reading