Tennis club to mark milestone
ONE of the oldest sports clubs in the country is set to mark a major milestone in its history by celebrating being in existence for a whopping 125 years.
Founded back in 1894, the County Wicklow Lawn Tennis Club (CWLTC) in Bray has played a very important role in the intervening period by providing an enjoyable and invaluable sporting outlet for both young and old in the town and in the adjoining North Wicklow and South County Dublin areas since well before the start of the First World War.
And to mark this momentous occasion in a fitting manner, current members and members from the past will come together on this Saturday night in the CWLTC clubhouse, situated on Vevay Road close to Boghall Road, to toast the club’s 125 year existence in what promises to be an extremely memorable and enjoyable event.
Commenting on the function, the chairman of the organising committee Dave Barry said: “We’re very proud of the fact that the club is 125 years in existence, and we’re expecting a very big turn-out of current and past members for what is obviously a very important occasion in the club’s history.
“We owe a lot to the people who started up the club all those years ago, and it’s great that the club has continued functioning in the meantime without even a single break in its existence.
“Because of where the function is being held, the number of members that we will be able to cater for will be somewhat restricted, but we did not feel that it would be appropriate to choose any location other than the Clubhouse which our members are so familiar with and feel at home in,” added Dave.
An additional element of the night will be the making of presentations to six members who have been associated with the club for 50 years – George Hennessy, Dan Murray, and unrelated duo Jack Murphy and Joe Murphy, who all previously passed that notable landmark, and Ciaran Driver and Stephen Hannon, who this year clocked up their half-century of service. Furthermore, the official opening of the newly re-laid courts will be performed on the night.
From small beginnings, the Bray tennis club has developed into an extremely vibrant and popular sporting entity with a very active and enthusiastic membership of approximately 550 individuals, roughly equally divided between males and females, and consisting of players ranging in age from kids of five-years-old to veterans in their 70s.
Each year, teams from the club, which comprises six newly relaid courts, all floodlit, and an expansive clubhouse which was opened in October 1999, and which was preceded by two earlier structures, takes part in the various Dublin Inter-League competitions, comprising five adult events, and a significant number of title successes have been achieved through this route.
Regarding the composition of the membership, the majority would be residents of the Bray district, but a number also live in nearby areas like Enniskerry, Greystones and Shankill.
As well, interestingly the club is not just confined to Irish natives, with tennis enthusiasts from the likes of Belgium, England, France, Germany, Italy, Netherlands and Poland also being represented in the membership.
In terms of prestige and reputation, the Co Wicklow club enjoys a very high status among its counterparts in the Greater Dublin area, and its annual Open Week tournament, held over late July and early August, is one of the undoubted highlights of the Irish tennis calendar.
An indication of the massive popularity of this event is demonstrated by the fact that such star Irish tennis players of the past as Owen Casey, Eoin Collins, Robert Collins, Stephen Nugent, Michael Nugent, John Doran and David O’Hare, all of whom represented this country in the Davis Cup, graced the courts at the Vevay Road location.
Moreover, current Davis Cup player Simon Carr, a son of Dublin football legend Tommy Carr, was involved in the chase for silverware at the Bray club before the now 19-year-old embarked on his professional tennis career in December 2015.
And on the female side, ex Irish Fed Cup aces Yvonne Doyle, Gina Niland and Karen Nugent all participated in the County Wicklow Open event.
Interestingly, an additional competitor was renowned longtime Wimbledon Championships referee Alan Mills, who was also a decent tennis player, having featured for Great Britain in the Davis Cup and earning four caps for his country, spread over 1959, 1961 and 1964.