Central Hawke’s Bay Mayor Alex Walker cut the ribbon to open the rebuilt tennis courts at the Waipawa Tennis Club.
Waipawa Lawn Tennis Club was established in the summer of 1884/85, making it one of the oldest tennis clubs in New Zealand.
The club also holds the country’s oldest veterans tournament, which has run annually since 1955 and was the prototype for veterans tournaments nationwide.
But players in last week’s Waipawa Veterans’ Tournament were playing on some of the country’s newest tennis courts.
So new, in fact, that the five new courts were only opened that morning.
Two years ago the club decided to fundraise to convert two of its grass courts to synthetic. They succeeded in getting funding from Centralines, Eastern and Central Community Trust, and the Regional Lottery Fund and by adding in their own resources were close to making a start.
In February last year, they were finalising one more funding application, to National Lotteries.
But on the evening of February 13, Cyclone Gabrielle began to make itself felt.
Waipawa Tennis Club president Clint Graham takes up the story: “Early the next afternoon, the Waipawa River overtopped the stopbank by the campground. Then it broke through the bank in two places, upstream of the bridge.
“The water that rushed out of the river forced its way through the railway underpass around the corner, tearing down the abutments on both sides of the street.
“Its full force was aimed at the campground where it wreaked havoc.
“The water spread out across this flat area including our grass courts, running at least half a metre deep at the netting. It tumbled over the edge, lifting the Astroturf and pushing it across the court like a crumpled duvet.
“The gravel underneath was scoured and shifted as well. The Bowling Club’s 8-month-old surface was wrecked too. The water carried on through the school, at less than 2cm below the floorboards. It kept flowing down the streets of lower Waipawa flooding into many homes.
“We were stunned. The streets, campground and school were full of activity as people did what they could to clean up. A massive volunteer effort was going on.
“Club members Grant and Monica had been working on the funding application to National Lottery. Their farm business had been hit really hard by flooding yet they still found the time and energy to amend the application to cover the replacement of the wrecked courts.
“That was very fortunate for our club. That application was successful.”
Not long after the cyclone, there was a call from Howick Tennis Club in Auckland.
“They told us they had held a tournament, dinner and auction to raise money to donate to us. We were blown away.
The veterans’ tournament last year was of course cancelled and we offered to refund the entry fees. But in most cases, people said, ‘No, keep the money.’
“After that we received donations from other clubs and groups. They had held tournaments, dinners, quiz nights and auctions and sent the proceeds to us. Clive Tennis Hawke’s Bay / Napier combined clubs held a tournament, Mount Maunganui held a quiz night, Manawatu Seniors Upper Hutt ran a tournament and the Waipawa and Districts Lions Club sent a donation.”
The new courts were built by Field Turf and ironically the build was plagued by wet weather. They finally finished on Wednesday, just over two days before the tournament.
Clint says, “We can consider it a great success to get these courts renewed after that event. At the same time, we are very mindful of the long-term damage that was done in the region.
“We are celebrating our success but not forgetting the damage and tough times that people have had to deal with. Not only are these courts a club asset, we also see them as a community asset.”
Central Hawke’s Bay Mayor Alex Walker cut the ribbon to open the new courts, ahead of the two-day Waipawa Veterans’ Tournament which heralded the reopening of the club.
Club nights have resumed on each Monday evening at 5.30pm throughout the summer. Contact: phone (06) 856 6068.
There have been four artists-in-residence at Rinitawa.