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On 15 April 1953, the club secretary B.Kebblewhite wrote to a Mrs McDonald to confirm that juvenile club members were only permitted to play on the courts on Monday and Wednesday afternoons.
On 4 September 1953, Ainslie Tennis Club held a ‘public dance’ on a Friday night at the Albert Hall, having made attempts to book the venue earlier in the year. Regrettably, the night was not a financial success, and the Department for the Interior declined on 25 September to refund the hiring fee.
On 4 May 1948, A.G. Spalding & Bros. wrote to the club to enquire as to the suitability of the new tennis balls covered with English cloth that had been provided to the club, with the offer of additional balls.
On 16 August 1949, the club secretary W.Morphett wrote to the Department of the Interior to say that lack of space in the club pavilion had resulted in the decision to ‘freeze’ club membership at 103 members, with no new members being accepted.
On 12 September 1949, the club secretary W.Morphett wrote to various donors thanking them for giving the club a tennis racquet, six tennis balls and a pair of nylon stockings as fundraising items.
On 4 July 1933, the Department of the Interior responded in writing to the club’s concerns about the safety of children playing football in close proximity to the court fencing, explaining that police would monitor the situation. According to the club’s correspondence at the time, there were “acres of paddocks in close proximity to this Park” in which to play instead.
On 3 March 1933, the club secretary C.H.Marriott requested on behalf of the club that “electric power be connected with the club’s pavilion.”
On 25 September 1929, nineteen club members requested a special general meeting of members in order to grant ladies “the privilege of inviting any friends and arranging [their own] friendly matches during weekdays.” Previously, ladies could only arrange friendly matches for weekends, and only through the club secretary.
The club’s original name from 1927 was the North Ainslie Social Service Tennis Club.
Male and female members were not charged the same membership fee until the mid-1970s.
On 21 April 1928, the club was officially opened by the inaugural patron, Colonel Goodwin. Initial membership stood at 79.
On 25 May 1928, a B-grade mixed team became Ainslie’s first ever pennant team in inter-club competition.
1930 was a busy year for the club. The government paid for a clubhouse to be constructed, 500 trees were planted nearby in Corroboree Park and it was decided that the club colours would be maroon and gold.
Club membership dropped from 108 in 1941 to the lowest in club history, just 30 in 1942. An all-female executive and committee were elected in 1943 and existing members who had signed up for the armed forces were retained on the membership register at no charge.
1950 saw lighting installed on court 2, with court 1 also having lighting installed in 1956. Tennis courts with lighting were rare at this time in Canberra.
On 14 September 1957, the present clubhouse was officially opened.
Former club secretary Wally Morphett won his tenth successive Ainslie Lawn Tennis Club Cup in 1957.
1957 saw the club’s membership reach a then all-time record of 160 members. In 2004, a new record of 183 members was achieved.
The late 1960s saw a proposal to merge Ainslie and Dickson tennis clubs and, although the merger was approved at a special general meeting, no follow-up action was taken.
The early 1980s saw the Northside Tennis Group formed by Ainslie, Braddon, Majura, O’Connor and Turner tennis clubs, primarily for social and pennant team formation purposes.
The club logo with the tree as its centre was first created in 1995.
The club won the ACT Tennis Association’s Club of the Year award in 1996.
Lipton’s Tea sponsored the club to the value of $360 in 1997.
Clay or dirt court surfaces on all three courts at the club gave way gradually to synthetic grass in the period from 2000-2002.
The Diamond Jubilee Year of 1988 saw the club release a commemorative port.
On 15 November 1956, the ACT Licensing Magistrate issued “members of the Ainslie Tennis Club and friends” a special permit for the supply and consumption of liquor at an annual cabaret evening at Ainslie Hall scheduled for Friday 30 November 1956. The permit stipulated that male guests consuming liquor must be over the age of eighteen and female guests must be over the age of twenty-one!
The July 1978 edition of the ACT Lawn Tennis Association publication ‘Set Point’ noted that the ACT pennant season “commences in February, and closes well before Christmas to avoid the cocktail party season…the short Canberra summer we leave severely alone, allowing dedicated players to take off for such cooler climes as Sydney or Brisbane.”
The 1974 Ainslie Tennis Club Annual Report noted that in one twelve-week pennant, only three weeks’ worth of play was possible due to persistent wash-outs. The pennant was cancelled altogether.
On 4 February 1980, the club President’s report noted that the construction of a practice wall had been deferred indefinitely. It would seem that this is still the case, despite numerous attempts to revive the project!
On 6 September 2000, club member Stephen Bailey was granted the honour of carrying the Olympic torch for a period of its journey leading up to the Sydney 2000 Olympics.
On 31 March 1954, it was noted by the ACT Lawn Tennis Association that the increase in pennant teams (106 – up from 84 the previous year) meant that the entire competition would no longer be able to be held exclusively on Saturdays. Sunday morning play would have to be considered.
On 29 April 1977, all ACT Lawn Tennis Association pennant winners (including a Division 4A Ainslie team) and their “wives/husbands” were cordially invited to attend a cocktail party at the National Tennis and Squash Club, at which pennants were to be formally presented.
Pennant-winning teams from Ainslie have a proud tradition of donating winnings back to the club. In 1999, this enabled the purchase of glasses and a wheelbarrow, and in 2001, a similar contribution funded the purchase of the shade cloth which even now is placed across the front of the clubhouse over the warmer months.
Ainslie Tennis Club was declared ‘Club of the Year’ by Tennis ACT in 2002, following on from previous success in 1996. Adding to the success that year was the coach’s award going to resident Ainslie coaches Andrew Bulley and Daniel Schofield, and the social club of the year award going to the Ainslie Football Club.
A member of the ACT Tennis Association General Branch Committee resigned in 1984 after an earlier resolution to allow female players to play in men’s pennants was rescinded at a later meeting.
On 6 April 1961, the club secretary wrote to the secretary of the ACT Lawn Tennis Association to protest the latter’s decision to strip the Ainslie Tennis Club of all points earned in the first round of the mixed pennant due to player registrations being submitted two days late. The decision was labelled “childish, stupid, trivial, petty and intolerant.”
On 25 January 1957, the club secretary T.Clear wrote a letter of complaint to the Department of the Interior, citing the “nuisance” presented by circus and carnival entertainment being conducted adjacent to the club’s courts. Moreover, the secretary claimed that the risk of theft of club property was “even greater when travelling carnival people camp within a short distance.”
On 28 August 1957, the minutes of an ACT Lawn Tennis Association meeting report that Ainslie Oval was to be the venue for a junior grasscourt tournament. However, Manuka Oval later became available and was chosen as the venue instead.
On 30 April 1958, the minutes of an ACT Lawn Tennis Association report that a ‘roving umpire’ was to be appointed to move around courts on which pennant matches were being played to “exercise the rights of an umpire, with special emphasis on foot faulting.”
On 6 June 1957, a representative of Canberra Citizens contacted the Ainslie Tennis Club to organise a ladies’ doubles tournament to assist with fundraising for the construction of the Goodwin Homes aged care facility being built in Ainslie at the time.