Sign In / Register
As Whangaparāoa Tennis Club looks back, as it celebrates its 70th anniversary this month, it is also looking ahead, hoping to finally achieve its aim of adding two courts alongside its existing ones on Edith Hopper Reserve.
The club started in the early 1950s on the site that is now the Manly Park Seniors Tennis Club – the Minutes of the Citizens and Ratepayers Association that built the original courts suggest it was around November 22, 1952.
Membership fees in 1952 were set at £1.10p for men, £1.05pence for women and a mere 10p for juniors!
Over the years club membership has surged along with the population growth in the area. The club shifted to the current location in Edith Hopper Reserve in 1978.
Currently membership is at 350 – including 200 juniors.
President Alf Sayer says the club is thriving, almost back to pre-Covid-19 membership numbers.
For the past decade, the club has been asking Auckland Council to extend its lease to include a portion of the reserve so that it can install two more courts.
Sayers says its current six courts take a maximum of 24 players and the sheer number of members mean this does not meet demand.
The idea has met with opposition from the Hibiscus & Bays Local Board in the past, because of Council’s desire for multi-use facilities and reluctance to lose green space.
However, Sayer plans to reiterate the urgency of the need for more playing space once the newly elected members get to work in earnest in the New Year.
Meanwhile, there’s an anniversary to celebrate. All current and past members and their partners are invited to a 70th anniversary dinner and dance at Gulf Harbour Country Club on November 19.
Backstories March 1, 2019, July 15, 2020 and November 22, 2021
