We wish to acknowledge the work of Paul Penman who has sourced and provided information for this article.
 

The story begins with Mr John P Young a man well known in tennis circles in Victoria over many years. In 1969 he visited Wimbledon as the Australian delegate to meetings of the Davis Cup nations and the International Lawn Tennis Federation and participated in veterans senior mens doubles events.

At a meeting with the Veterans Lawn Tennis Club of Great Britain the idea of a veterans tennis movement in Australia was born. It follows that on 11 February 1970 an informal dinner was held where it was decided to form a committee to plan the launch of the Veterans Lawn Tennis Club of Australia with the theme “to encourage the playing of lawn tennis in the spirit it was first played — for the love and enjoyment of the game”.

It is recorded that on Saturday 13 March 1970 the first Veterans Invitation Tennis Tournament was held at the Albert Ground Queens Road Melbourne with the winners P. Strugnell and G. Hosch.

On the 16 March 1970 the Lawn Tennis Association of Australia approved the establishment of the Veterans Lawn Tennis Club of Australia and at its first official function on Wednesday 25 March 1970 the trophies were awarded to the winners of the first Veterans Invitation Tournament.

A veterans challenge match was held on the 11 April 1970 between the Kooyong Club (The Lawn Tennis Association of Victoria) and the Royal South Yarra Tennis Club however the outcome of this event is unknown. The first annual general meeting of the Veterans Lawn Tennis Club of Australia was held on the 13 May 1970 at the home of Geoff and Veronica Brown during which the club’s Constitution and certain rules were approved.

The first National Veterans Titles were held in Canberra in 1971 and attracted a large field of over 200 entries including former Davis Cup players Dinny Pails Geoff Brown and Mervyn Rose.

Australia entered a team in overseas competition for the first time in 1973 in the Dubler Cup. The team of Jim Gilchrist, Bob Howe, Frank Sedgman and John P Young was victorious and returned to Australia with the prized Dubler Cup.

During the following years all Australian States formed their own Associations and currently there are over five thousand active members in Australia.

Internationally the growth in veteran tennis has been enormous over the last 38 years. Under the control of the International Tennis Federation veteran tennis is now played in more than 45 countries world wide. There are over 250 major veteran tournaments played each year and (following the example of the Dubler Cup) there are 19 International Team competitions.

Over the years the title for players over the age of 35 years has changed several times reflecting current trends. From Veterans it changed to Vets and changed again to “Seniors” as it is believed that “Seniors” is an internationally understood title. Australia officially renamed the movement as “Seniors” in September 2005.

Mr John P Young was a Patron and Life Member of Tennis Veterans Australia. In his latter years his enthusiasm for the Vets never diminished. John passed away in July 2003.