Northbridge Tennis Coaching

Northbridge Tennis Club has three all weather courts and some great club facilities. Come and take a look and enjoy some fabulous tennis or maybe get some personal or group coaching in some beautiful surroundings.
Northbridge Tennis Club (NTC) celebrated its 85th anniversary in 2011. It was officially formed in 1926. Before that, it was known as the Kameruka Club. The land was owned by Mr. Frank Cook and Mr. Degotardi . The residence situated on the property, faced Euroka Street with the land running through to Lower Bligh Street. The courts were at the back of the property and rented out to the Club. The annual fee was 6 pounds or 10/- per month. Court 1 (western court) was lit for night tennis. The clubhouse stood between Court 1 and the cliff face running north to south. The clubhouse contained a billiard table. The Club also had a small swimming pool, which was located where the clubhouse is today. During the Depression in the 1930’s, part of the club was put under mortgage until the bank foreclosed and took over possession as the mortgagee, apart from 10 cms of land at the end of one of the courts, which was still owned by Mr Degotardi, and not subject to sale. During this time an unusual incident occurred. Whilst an A2 Grade competition match was in progress, Mr Degotardi appeared on court with a mattock (like a pick) in hand. To everyone’s amazement, he proceeded to dig up his 10 cms of court, which still belonged to his wife! After a year or so, the courts were sold by the ‘bank’ as mortgagee in possession, and Mr. Cook (the other part owner) to a Mr. Shortis. This included Mr Degotardi’s 10 cms of land! Mr. Shortis continued renting the courts to the Club until 1947, when the Club purchased the courts for the princely sum of 700 pounds. The Club has always been affiliated with the Northern Suburbs Tennis Association, and had from the beginning entered teams in the various grades. Our President in the 1930’s, Mr S.E. Wynn was also the President of the NSTA. The NSTA Secretary, Mr J. Trickett was also a Club member. Other pre WW2 members included Mr. H.E. “Tiger” Birch, Mr. J.O. Jones and Mr. Alf Foster. Another local identity and NTC past Club Champion was Mr. Max Campbell, who twice survived being torpedoed during the war and was involved in the infamous Burma Railroad before dying of pneumonia in Japan. Max Campbell, Neil Cook and Les Coppin all attended Northbridge Public School in the 1920’s and played together at the Club for many years. In 1945, the Club was incorporated as a limited company under the NSW Companies Act, so was required to lodge annual financial returns within 60 days of the close of the financial year. However, as the club was a non-profit organisation it applied for an exemption, which was granted. In 1959, the new clubhouse was built for the sum of $6,690 and located at the southern end of Court 1. In 1981, the Club installed the ‘Mod Grass’ courts for $38,440 similar to what we play on today. The posts and wire were erected by the Club members to reduce the loans raised in the early years. This has been a great feature of the Club, where the “Working Bee” has been alive and active and still is to this day. In more recent years, the Club has been involved with Tennis NSW and Tennis Australia to help promote the game that we all love. We had Steve Healy, the President of Tennis Australia as our guest speak at our Annual Dinner in 2011. Steve is a resident of Northbridge and always a welcome guest of the Club. In 2013, Northbridge celebrates its 100 anniversary as a suburb and Northbridge Tennis Club will be involved in those celebrations. The Club has always been actively used by its members, some of whom have been playing at the Club for over 50 years and by the local community for coaching, competition matches or social tennis. It is a great Club, with great traditions and long may it be so.