• Club and interim committee formed at a public meeting on Wednesday 20 October 1971 at the Waramanga Primary School. Jock Dickson interim President and Dorothy Moody interim Secretary/Treasurer.   First committee meeting at Jock Dickson’s place (46 Adinda Street Waramanga) on 1 November 1971.
• Club financial year agreed to be 1 May to 30 April and AGM held within 90 days of the end of the financial year.
• Commonwealth of Australia, Department of Works confirmed Block 12, Section 22, Weston was the area bounded by Scouts Rd to the edge of the Scout Hall, the tree line to Namatijira Drive (not including the nature strip and path), and to the drain easement adjacent Stretton Drive. The staging would consist of Stage 1: Courts 1-4, Stage 2: Courts 5-8, and Stage 3: Courts 9-12. The Clubhouse would be a ‘Type 661’ standard tennis pavilion.
• Stage 1 clay courts with lights opened on Sunday 2 December 1973 at 2.30pm by Ken Willis (dec), President of the ACT Tennis Association.
• Stage 2 clay courts with lights opened in 1975 – no details of opening.
• No 1 Court Synthetic Grass laid in 1976. This was the first court of its type in Canberra.
• 2 Court was laid with synthetic grass in 1977, but using river sand.
• Courts 5-8 laid with synthetic grass 1985.
• Club membership peaked in 1977/78 at 763 and restrictions had to be put on court useage during peak times.
• First Certificate of Incorporation 13 October 1981.
• First lease under new lease agreement dated from December 1983 for 25 Years.
• Courts 5-8 laid with modgrass in 1984 after receiving an ACT Govt Grant.
• Coaching contracts negotiated with the 2 coaches 1984.
• Court 2 became unserviceable as river sand had been used. Courts blasted with firefighting hose and sand replaced 1984.
• Payment of Land Rent commenced for first time from 19 November 1990 to 18 November 1993. The legislation was under Section 3AA of the Leases Act, ACT Government, Department of the Environment Land and Planning. Rent determined as being $4,400. Building to be maximum height not exceeding 2 storeys.
• Stage 3 clay courts with lights and spoon guttering completed and approved. Opened by Senator Gary Humphries in August 1995.
• Gazebos built by TAFE Canberra apprentices 1998.
• First contract negotiated with CSOT 2001
• Showers and kitchen installed 2002
• Clubhouse painted inside and out 2001 and industrial carpet laid.
• Large gazebo with shade cloth 2004
• Landscaping and paving completed 2005
• Showers and tiling 2001/2002
• Six (5-8 and 1-2) new and refurbished artificial grass courts laid during 2005. Opened by Ted Quinlan, ACT Minister for Sport on 20 August 2005.
• Practice Wall improvements 2006/07 and 2010/11 – grass carpet laid using old court surface and old nets used to catch ‘high’ balls
• Club Lease renewal for 99 years – 2008.
• Since 2008 other activities have been;
• Courts 3&4 resurfaced with red carpet by “Power Court” of Clarencetown.
• Courts 9-12 resurfaced by Craig Bowron of Cronulla( New surfaces had to be overlaid on the old ones)
• Pergola to the Clubhouse installed( about 2012). 2 years after installation, the covering required replacement due to faulty material.
• Major expenditure on lighting($11K+) following a succession of globe failures
• Toilets have been replaced 2015
• Coach’s shed repaired and new Club shed installed over old sand pits
• Coach’s contract renewed 2017
• Clubhouse interior painted 2016 and new floor laid
• 2016 – on. Major installation of the Tennis Australia sponsored“on line” booking and membership system and light sensor. This has proved to be a major challenge – and disappointment at how badly managed a system can be by Tennis Australia, who continue to not fix major issues with the software. The major benefits of the system are that we no longer need the Raider’s Weston Club to manage bookings, and the Club no longer needs to have expensive and accountable keys for entry.
• Over the years many vandal attacks have occurred mainly in the form of graffiti on the outside wall(Graeme Rossiter has spent many hours painting the “G” out)
• Serious vandal attacks have been to the interior of the Clubhouse, breaking glass windows, breaching fencing with wire cutters, and in 2018 vandals destroyed the 2 gazebos erected by the TAFE students many years ago. Fortunately the Club received $7K from insurance and a grant of $10K from ANZ Bank towards their replacement – estimated at $26K.
• Apart from the ANZ sponsorship, the Club has two ongoing sponsorships since 2015-6, Rebel Sports and the Canberra Southern Cross Club

Historical Photos

Last Updated 14 January 2020