Bandon Tennis Club is celebrating its centenary and the club has grown in membership in recent years. The members are marking the anniversary with an all-night event with a difference for a much-loved local charity, writes Martin Claffey
ANYONE watching Wimbledon this summer would have seen the club’s 11pm curfew seeing play on Centre Court closing for the night.
Well, there’ll be no such barrier at Bandon Tennis Club next month as the club plans to have play for 25 hours non-stop in aid of a beloved local charity.
The 100 Hours of Tennis event – with 25 hours of non-stop tennis with four players on one court – takes place at Bandon Tennis Club starting on Saturday September 9th, and the ‘100’ event is being held to celebrate the club’s 100th anniversary, explained club chairman Steven Roycroft. ‘We wanted an event to celebrate our 100th anniversary and thought about what we could do and came up with this event,’ says Steven.
‘We’ll have our juniors, senior, and older members taking part. Players will be rolling on and rolling off over the course of the 25 hours.
‘I have my name down for one of the late games. I think some people will make a real night of it.’
Bandon Tennis Club itself has gone from strength to strength in recent years. The club is now thriving and has 188 active members, made up of of 55 juniors, 124 seniors, and nine over 70s.
‘We are the largest all-weather tennis club in West Cork,’ says Steven.
‘We’ve grown a lot in recent years. During Covid we actually ended up getting a lot of new members because with it being outdoors, it was one of the few sports people were allowed to play during restrictions.
‘We have members from Bandon and beyond – we have members from other parts of West Cork too, like Bantry.’
The club provides a social outlet for member as well. And as is fitting for such a developing club, facilities have undergone major improvement.
‘We have upgraded in recent years. Over the last four years we have upgraded our floodlight wiring and fittings to LED as well as resurfacing all four courts.’
It’s not just on-court and facilities where the club has moved firmly into the 21st century. ‘We updated our membership process to make it easier and it can all now be done online,’ explains Steven.
Roger Pearson has been a member of Bandon Tennis Club for 30 years. ‘It has always been a well-run club. We are lucky in Bandon that all the sports – not just the tennis club – are so well run, it’s one of the areas where the town is really well served.
The winners of the John O’Toole perpetual shield : Maggie O’Toole, Sean O’Leary, Mark O’Leary, Steven Roycroft. Bandon Tennis Club now has 188 active members, with 55 juniors, 124 seniors and nine over 70s.
‘The club has changed an awful lot in that time. There’s lots of new faces now but of course lots of the old faces are still there too,’ says Roger. ‘When I joined the club had the old tarmacadum courts.
‘But even then, those committees with people like Billy Roycroft had foresight and vision to think of the future. The courts were laid with tarmacadum with proper drainage that allowed for the building
of the modern courts there now.’
The club’s committee wanted to find a suitable local charity from funds raised by their tennis 100 event, and the St Michael’s Centre fitted the bill perfectly.
St Michael’s Centre is a community support service for older people in Bandon, helping them to live independently. Some of the services provided by St Michael’s include Meals on Wheels, a volunteer ‘care ring’ service, fingerposting for older people to reach other services, digital learning and educational services. The centre also provides a social outlet with popular musical events with visiting musicians, recreational meet-ups, card games, and other activities. The centre carries out outreach work in the community, and works hand in hand with organisations like Age Action, Age Friendly, Citizen Information, Cork ETB, and the HSE.
‘The St Michael’s Centre is a great community organisation for Bandon and carries out some great work so we thought it would be a great cause to support,’ says Steven.
The three courts at Bandon Tennis Club have been extensively resurfaced and new LED lighting has been installed.
Originally founded back in 1969 – when the tennis club had not yet reached its half-century of existence – the centre is undertaking a major construction project which will see the development of six residential units, a new community room, upgraded offices and support facilities. With construction having begun on the facilities on South Main Street, the St Michael’s Centre services continue, with the centre working from the Town Hall, which keeps its presence and vital services at the heart of Bandon.
Even more fitting, the chairman of the St Michael’s Centre is Roger, who is also a proud member of Bandon Tennis Club.
‘The committee approached the Centre and asked if we would be interested, and we were delighted,’ says Roger. ‘I’m putting myself down
for one of the 4am slots on court!’
The Bandon Tennis Club fundraiser has set a target to raise €3,000 for the St Michael’s Centre.
With 100 years of hard work behind it, Bandon Tennis Club is now ready to make a day, and night, of it as they continue to look to the future.
• For membership details to join Bandon Tennis Club go to https://bandonltc.com/membership
• You can support the Bandon Tennis Club 100 Hours of Tennis fundraiser at https://www.gofundme.com/f/100-hours-of-tennis
