Havelock North Tennis Club centenary hits mark

From left Havelock North Tennis Club centenary guests Raewyn Pascoe, Karen Pallesen, Coline Higgins, club president Leigh Johnson and Sarah Grace at an exhibition game on Saturday. Photo/Paul Taylor

Wigs, whites and waltzing were highlights of a tennis celebration in Havelock North at the weekend.

The Havelock North Tennis Club celebrated its centenary with 90 present and former members taking part in matches, dancing and dress-ups.

President Leigh Johnson said the event was "absolutely fantastic" and one of the highlights was seeing players rekindling old teams and friendships.

Present and former members came from all over the region and from further afield including Hamilton, Auckland, Tauranga and Taupo.

Organisers had been preparing for the weekend for the last 18 months and it could not have gone better, Ms Johnson said.

"It was an incredibly positive weekend... celebrating the love of tennis."

On Saturday everyone dressed in tennis whites of different eras from 1920s to 1980s with many people going all out looking crazy with wigs too, she said.

At a dinner at the Havelock North Community Centre there were four speakers from different decades talking about the club which ended in Ms Johnson explaining the state of play at the club currently, followed by guests dancing the night away.

The club has 220 members, which has been steadily increasing over the last five years with high numbers of junior interclub teams.

There have also been several members of the club take part in national and international tournaments recently.

The club has a number of funding applications in for grants because there are plans in the pipeline to resurface the courts, put more lighting in and move to LED lights, she said.

The celebrations started with a meet and greet on Friday evening, general play dressed in period whites, exhibition matches, dinner and dancing on Saturday and ended with a fun fast-four tournament and pot luck lunch yesterday.