Also in Events

Tennis ACT Centenary

On Saturday 4 March, Tennis ACT hosted the ‘100 Years of Tennis ACT gala dinner’ at the iconic National Arboretum. This event was to recognise and celebrate the last 100 years, while looking forward to the next 100 years.

Tennis in the ACT & Region officially began on 21 March 1923 with the Federal Territory Tennis Association being established. This was followed by Canberra’s first tennis competition in
late 1923. Five affiliate clubs competed in the A Grade Men’s Competition, including Canberra, Eastlake, Northbourne, West Ridge and Queanbeyan, with Queanbeyan taking home the trophy.
These clubs were officially affiliated, as they paid the fee of five shillings to compete. 100 years on, we now have 32,426 participants (and counting!) across the ACT & Region.

The night was a one to celebrate, with 350 guests from across the country. The room was filled with those who are responsible for shaping our sport into what it is today – the players, coaches,
officials, volunteers, club committees and presidents, life members, Walk of Fame inductees, former TACT board members and staff, ACT Government and partners.

Special guests also joined the night including Aussie tennis legends and icons Nick Kygrios and his family, Neale Fraser, John Alexander, Wally Masur, Helen Gourlay, and event MC John
Fitzgerald. Memorabilia was on display during the night, including trophies proudly displayed on each table from the last 100 years and the room being filled with iconic memorabilia pieces from the last 100 years. The night also saw the official induction two Canberra tennis icons into the Tennis ACT Walk of Fame – Les Crawley MBE and Anne Haycock OAM.

Guests were treated to a viewing of the ‘Country Week film’, the oldest film footage of a Canberra tennis representative team (consisting of all Queanbeyan players) that is known to exist. The footage shows the team playing at White City in Sydney. It was the first time the film has been shown in Canberra, with the last viewing taking place in Queanbeyan in 1953 at the opening of Bill Freebody’s refurbished Star Theatre. Thanks to a ‘chance’ discovery at the National Film and Sound Archive (NFSA) last year, the restored film was able to be played to the Centenary night audience.

The official 100th birthday on 21 March 2023 was celebrated with a hit on the Lodge’s historic court with Prime Minister Anthony Albanese. TACT Board members and the top three seeds in the ACT Clacycourt International – Olivia Gadecki (Qld) – current world #144, Jaimee Fourlis (Vic) – career high #147, and Priscilla Hon (Qld) – career high #118 joined the PM
for the hit.

In May 2023, the 100 Years of Tennis ACT publication was released thanks to the hard work and dedication of Colin Adrian.