Taupō Tennis Club members celebrating its 100th anniversary are club president Ross George (left), member Lyndsay Cutler and head of maintenance Hermann Geister. Photo / Dan Hutchinson
Taupō Tennis Club members celebrating its 100th anniversary are club president Ross George (left), member Lyndsay Cutler and head of maintenance Hermann Geister. Photo / Dan Hutchinson
Taupō Tennis Club is celebrating its 100th anniversary.
Club president Ross George said it was a “huge” milestone, and past and present members will gather this week at the newly renovated Tongariro North Domain clubhouse to celebrate.
The tennis club was originally where Whitcoulls is, then moved to a site in Redoubt St, before settling at its present Redoubt St location — which used to be netball courts — in 1994.
The site now has eight courts.
George told the Taupō & Tūrangi Herald the clubhouse has had a $270,000 upgrade over the past three years.
“We’ve been renovating the clubhouse plus a lot of volunteer work helping out the builder, the relocation of the pavilion too, and the clubhouse now has this huge deck and sliding doors that face out on to the courts.”
Taupō Tennis Club has had a $270,000 upgrade over the past three years. Photo / Herman Geister
He said $35,000 was granted to the club by the Lion Foundation, $5000 from an anonymous grant, and the rest was “self-funded” by the club running events and tournaments.
George said the anonymous money came into the hands of the club at a good time.
“The money was for us to complete an ambulance and fire access ramp into the building, that was $15k and we had run out of money. "
They still had to finish the ramp with building consent due to a timeline, but were unsure of how to fund it.
“Someone out of the blue just gave it to us, it was so lovely because we had no money at that stage, it was just magic.”
George said the renovation cost $270,000, but the club put another $100,000 of “sweat equity” into it.
“We had a team of retirees digging holes, painting, running electrical cables, putting the deck down — it’s all time and effort, but they made it work.
“People just roll up their sleeves and do things here and don’t necessarily expect to be given anything.”
George has been involved with the club for three years and president for 18 months.
“A lot of our members and committee got quite worn out with the big building project with the pavilion and it sucked a lot of energy out of people.
“When everything is done voluntarily it can be a bit tiring for people sometimes.”
He enjoyed the club because the members were lovely, thoughtful and always helpful.
Club vice-president Andy Mellor, a life member and perennial club champion, said it always made him feel welcome.
Mellor moved to Taupō from Australia with his partner in 1996, with the plan to get married here and then go back home.
They fell in love with Taupō, and Mellor said the “immediate appeal for me was the friendliness and welcoming of people” of the town and the club.
Taupō Tennis Club has hopes of becoming a multisport facility. Photo / Herman Geister
“I had some skills that could help develop the club coaching-wise, and it went really well.”
He grew up playing tennis, basically “since I could swing a racquet”, and was able to show his skills to his son, who ended up defeating him in a championship.
Mellor said that was one of his favourite memories at the club.
“He went through all the way as a little pup learning to play the game and was eventually game enough to beat me and become the club champion.
“Every coach wants to see their progeny excel. I was sad to see my title go, but he deserved it. It was a really proud moment.”
Mellor said it was “mind-blowing and special” to celebrate 100 years of the club, saying there is a lot of history there in terms of past members.
George said the next thing on the cards for the tennis club was to hopefully become a “multisport facility right in the heart of Taupō”.
It hoped to work with Taupō District Council through the long-term plan, with a view towards creating a joint facility with a covered roof and catering to other sports.
“We’re a growing town and need to have more sophisticated facilities to cater to everything.”
