TENNIS.

Timaru Herald, Volume XCVIII, Issue 18084, 11 June 1924, Page 18 (Supplement)

TENNIS.

Tennis has had its devotees since the earliest days of settlement, and forty years ago the Timaru Tennis Club had pretentious courts on a block of land now occupied as a residential area, the site being on Grey Road opposite the Old Show Grounds. For a great many years, however, the game was regarded by all except a comparatively small number of skilled players, as a good deal of a society affair, and it is only within the last twenty years that it has achieved universal favour. The parent club, after one or two changes of site, is now located on a fine property off Elizabeth Street, and younger clubs have sprung up with mushroomlike growth in all parts of South Canterbury. In Timaru Te Kara (Park), St. John’s, St. Mary’s, Wai-iti, Ranfurly, P. and T., Y.M.C.A., Waimataitai and Wesley Clubs cater for sectional or district groups, and the Borough Council has laid down six first-class asphalt courts at Caroline Bay which have proved a very lucrative investment. The number of active players of all ages increases rapidly month by jnonth, during the season, and in 1923-24 there was an unprecedented boom in tennis in South Canterbury. Until comparatively recent years matches between the clubs were of the “friendly” order, being arranged by mutual consent, and the first regular competitions were held under the auspices of the Canterbury Association, whose headquarters are in Christchurch. In 1921 it was decided that the time was ripe for the formation of a South Canterbury. Association, and official tennis in the district is now controlled by this body, to which are affiliated twelve clubs, with an approximate aggregate membership of 800. Competitions are conducted in three grades, and an annual Christmas tourney has been established, which attracts the best players of the South Island. The number of unattached players probably largely exceeds that of the associated clubs, and tennis has become a most popular summer pastime.