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HISTORY |
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Rochford
Tennis Club was first established in 1887 by the congregation
of St Andrews Church on one grass court which was somewhere close
to what is now, Rochford Hundred Golf Club and St Andrews. The club
moved to a spot between the church and the rectory before the 2nd
world war at some point, the profile of the courts can still be seen
on an aerial photograph.
The club finally moved to its present site in the 60's, donated to
the club by the Tabor family. At this time Rochford was one of the
strongest clubs in the area and originally had six grass courts. By
the mid 70's the club was one of the strongest in the local area,
but maintaining the grass courts was proving a problem, by the late
70's a hockey club had started to use the area for practice during
the winter. By the 80's the club was in decline due to rival clubs
switching to hard courts which where playable all year. In 79 the
club was given financial help by Rochford
Council to install 3 macadam hard-courts with floodlights, the
first club to have lights. However due to the multiple sports being
played at the venue the tennis section declined over the years until
Chris Nelson became involved
in the club in 1997.
At this point the club facilities had all but fallen into disrepair
and Tennis was being continued by a group of hardy individuals who
where at loggerheads with the hockey section. Chris began building
up the juniors, and by 1998 there where over 140 kids playing at the
club, many for the county. In 1999 Chris purchased the freehold from
the hockey club and began the task of restoring its playing facilities.
In 2001 the court had 3 new courts installed with its unique red insert
and blue background.
In 2008 Chris approached the clubs members proposing the option of
they themselves taking back over the running of the club through a
lease agreement, in 2009 this was formally accepted with the club
attaining Clubmark
accreditation at the same time. |
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| © 2010 Rochford Tennis Club. All
Rights Reserved. |
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