History of The Canterbury Veterans' Association
Veterans' Tennis began to take root in Canterbury in 1958 when a veterans' grade was approved for the Canterbury Championships. A senior mixed grade - teams of two men and two women - was introduced to the interclub competition with five entries. A Presidents Grade was added to the interclub menu in the 1959-60 season and Opawa won the competition. In 1961 after some complaints about the age of players a minimum age of 35 was set.
The real spur to form a formal framework for veterans' tennis in Canterbury came in 1977 when the New Zealand Veterans' Tennis Association, which had been allocated the 1979 Australasian Championships, approached the Canterbury Lawn Tennis Association about running the tournament at Wilding Park. Canterbury accepted and organised a local Veterans' Tournament in February 1978. There were 98 entries.
The inaugural meeting of the Canterbury Veterans' Tennis was held at Wilding Park on March 6 1981. Thirty-one people attended and Mr Brian Faulls, president of the Canterbury Lawn Tennis Association was elected chairman of the meeting. It was moved that a Canterbury Lawn Tennis Veterans' Association be formed and an inaugural committee be appointed to draft rules and attend to preliminary steps in preparation for the first Annual Meeting next tennis season. Carried. Mr Peter Steinmetz was elected as chairman of the inaugural committee and the following members were then elected: Mesdames P Cox, M Smith, C Newton, J Bunt, Messrs T Tyler, R Avery, R Van Ysselsteyn and J Chambers.
The format of the Constitution was circulated at a committee meeting in June 1981 and the following was set out:
Membership
(a) Ordinary Members: Players who have reached the age of 45 (Men) and 40 (Women).
(b) Junior Members: Players who have reached the age of 40 (Men) and 35 (Women).
(c) Associate Members: Men and Women of both sections who would be associated with the Association in a non-playing capacity.
Subscription for the 1981-82 season was set at $5.00 for playing membership and $2.00 for associate membership. A Winter Tournament was planned for August 1981, the Beauty and Beast Tournament (for married Couples) and a Canterbury Veterans Championship Tournament in December. Approval was given to the suggestion from the NZVTA, through the Canterbury LTA, that the 1983 Australasian Tournament be held in Christchurch. During the year Peter Steinmetz moved to Nelson and Trevor Withers became chairman until the first AGM.
The first Annual General Meeting of the Canterbury Veterans' Lawn Tennis Association was held on July 14 1982. The Constitution was adopted.
The Election of Officers were:
President: Mr T A Withers; Secretary/Treasurer: Mrs D A Withers
Committee: Messrs R Avery, N W Stevens, D J Taylor, T J Tyler, R Van Ysselsteyn, Mesdames J Bunt, C Newton and M Smith.
The first Field Day was held on July 28 1982. They were held monthly to start with, attracting a large number of players.
At the 2nd Annual General Meeting on July 27 1983 it was passed that the word Lawn be omitted from the name of the club and it shall henceforth be known as the Canterbury Veterans' Tennis Club.
In January 1983 the Australasian Tournament was held at Wilding Park. It was a major success with 320 players from 72 teams from throughout New Zealand and all Australian States.
The Teams Events were held from January 17-21 and the Individual Championships from January 23-27. Wilding Park was the main venue with team events being held at Edgeware TC and United LTC as well.
By 1984 Canterbury had social games organised with veterans in Nelson, Marlborough, North Canterbury, Canterbury Country, and Banks Peninsula. Games were also being organised with overseas visiting groups from Japan and America.
At a New Zealand Veterans Tennis Association AGM in 1984 Trevor Withers proposed a National Teams Event and the first National Teams Event was held in 1986. These are held yearly over Easter.
1984 also saw the start of the Super Veterans' 55+ Tournament for Men's and Women's Doubles. The Super Veterans' 55+ Mixed Doubles Tournament commenced in 1990.
At the 4th AGM in 1985 it was tabled that the Canterbury LTA had approached the CTV Club stating that if it became an association veterans would have the right to appoint a member to the Management Committee of the CLTA. This was passed and veterans were now known as the Canterbury Veterans' Tennis Association Inc.
Canterbury hosted the NZ Championships in March 5-9 1986 and we fielded four teams in the first National Teams Event held in Tauranga.
In August 3rd 1987 it was proposed at a committee meeting that the age for men be lowered to 40 years. These players would be able to enter local tournaments but not nationals. This was passed at the 7th AGM 1988.
In 1989 The Trevor Withers Veteran of the Year Memorial Trophy was established in memory of Trevor Withers (who passed away in May 1989). Trevor contributed unselfishly to the game of tennis for most of his life as a player, coach and administrator.
The Canterbury Lawn Tennis Association held its Centenary in October 1990. This was a great success and enjoyed by all who took part.
The Veterans' membership had risen to 454 and Field Days were being held on the first and third Wednesdays of each month and attracting up to 80 players. Unfortunately in 2005 they were discontinued as numbers over the last few years dropped to the point where it was not viable to run them anymore.
Canterbury Veterans once again hosted the Veterans' National Championships at Wilding Park in February 1991 and in December the same year the first South Island Teams Event was held.
The Inaugural Quadrangular Tournament was held June 1-3 1996 indoors at the Edgar Sports Stadium in Dunedin. Teams participating in this first tournament were Canterbury, Canterbury Country, Otago and Southland and consisted of twelve men and twelve women. Canterbury won all their matches and in beating Otago retained the Lew LeComte Trophy. Previously Canterbury had played for the trophy in an annual match against Otago but that year it was incorporated into the Quadrangular Tournament.
In November 2001 a triangular tournament between Canterbury, Nelson and Marlborough was started. West Coast has now been included and this is usually played in Blenheim at the end of August.
2002 saw the age for veterans dropped to 35.
In September 2003 the Inaugural 55+ Teams Tournament was held in the Edgar Sports Stadium in Dunedin. Teams from Canterbury, Canterbury Country, South Canterbury, Otago, Otago Country and Southland participated.
Canterbury hosted the New Zealand Veterans Tennis Championships at the United Lawn Tennis Club (now known as the Hagley Park TC) in January 2004 as the World Wheelchair Teams and Individual Championships were being played at Wilding Park. Both events were a great success and many veteran tennis players called into Wilding Park to watch the skills of the wheelchair players. Players at United Club were honoured to receive their trophies from the President of the ITF, Mr Ricci Bitti.
In 2005 CTVA hosted a touring Australian team from Western Australia, Victoria, ACT and New South Wales, led by Alison Ide. The teams played for the Poynter Perpetual Plate. Teams were 34 aside and played at the Cashmere Tennis Club. Results saw a 17-17 tie, with the locals winning 281-272 games. A wonderful day of excellent tennis and socialising was held by all.
NZVTA changed its name to Tennis Seniors NZ Inc. in 2005. CVTA remains as is.
After a gap of 19 years, 2006 saw the Australian and New Zealand Veterans' Championships being held again in New Zealand with 800+ players participating. Canterbury Tennis with Tennis Seniors NZ and Australian Veterans' Tennis Association ran the two-week tournament. The Teams Event was held from January 8-13 and the Individual Championships from January 16-20. Wilding Park was the main venue with some team events held at Fendalton TC, Cashmere TC, and Hagley Park TC (formerly United LTC) and the individual events were at Wilding Park and Hagley Park TC.
