Island tennis club has been serving splendour in the grass for 137 years

The South Cowichan Lawn Tennis Club has been serving up fun and finesse in the community for 137 years. 

“This is a special place,” said club president Mike Rasmussen. “I’ve golfed at all the great courses in the world like St. Andrews in Scotland, which is considered hallowed ground. For those who play tennis it is the same sort of vibe here. People come from all over the world to play on these courts.” 

The SCLTC was founded on May 9, 1887 during a time when British Columbia was first getting settled, and a lot of the British aristocrats came to Vancouver Island and bought up big tracts of land that included the Cowichan Valley. 

“They were upper crust and had everything they wanted, like being able to do outdoor activities such as hunting and fishing, but didn’t have the one thing they were used to which was tennis courts,” said Rasmussen. “So two families built a couple of courts and the rest is history.” 

The SCLTC, which had its original location just down the road from where it is now for its first few years of existence, now has seven grass courts, and two hard top courts. A fun fact, regular tennis was originally known as lawn tennis in Britain because it was played on grass courts by Victorian gentlemen and ladies. SCLTC has been nicknamed ‘Wimbledon West’ while Wimbledon opened a year earlier than SCLTC in 1877 making it the oldest tennis club in the world. They closed their courts during the world wars, however, while SCLTC did not, making this gem in the valley the longest continuously open tennis club in the world. 

“That’s our claim to fame,” said Rasmussen. “During the First and Second World War membership here dropped quite a bit because a lot of the men had gone off to war, but we didn’t close and the older men, women, and children continued to play here. There are a lot of grass tennis courts in the world, but a far as Canadian history goes, it is pretty impressive that this club has run for so many years on a shoestring budget.” 

Rasmussen has been involved with SCLTC, which is a not for profit organization, for the past six years and as president one of his main functions is the upkeep of the grounds. Returning members will notice new fencing that was completed this past April to replace the boards that were deteriorating. Members did the work themselves, while the cost of materials was in the neighbourhood of $12,000. Rasmussen figures the club saved themselves $20,000 in labour tackling the project themselves. Rasmussen recently hired someone with a green thumb to keep their gardens in full bloom, but takes both pride and pleasure in beautifying the courts. 

“The grass courts need to be cut and have new lines painted on them three times a week, and then it has to be rolled with a half tonne roller four times a week to keep it firm,” said Rasmussen. “I met a gentleman the other day who hadn’t played here for many years, and he introduced himself and made a point of telling me how he played here for several years and that he has never seen the grass in as good a condition as it is now,” said Rasmussen. “Hearing that gives me a lot of gratification; everything now looks so nice because we have tried to take a different approach to everything, instead of just winging it.” 

The SCLTC had its season opening day on May 18 and will be serving up triumphs and ‘love’ until mid-September. The rules and point system for both regular and lawn tennis are pretty much the same. Both sports require six game wins to win a set, however, regular tennis games don’t include the two-game buffer rule that lawn tennis has. The real difference between the grass and hard court is the bounce. 

“You have to have a bit of tennis experience before you can play on grass so we recommend those new to the game to start off on our hard courts,” said Rasmussen. “The most important thing when playing on grass as a player is the bounce, and if you don’t roll it, it’s like trying to bounce a ball into sand, which is why we have to keep it firm.” 

Those leading the game in lawn tennis will still be shouting out ‘30 love’ and so on as love represents zero in tennis. This term for zero stems from the French, since egg in french is l’oeuf and pronounced love. Rasmussen who personally prefers standing back and whacking the ball on the hard top court says that playing on the grass is conducive to a finesse game because if you can do a drop shot it’s not going to bounce up and you are going to get the point every time. It is also much easier on the joints, especially for seniors, and softens any falls one might take during a game, so essentially adds duration to one’s playing career. 

“One of our members, Peter Wilson, is going to be 90 in October, and he’s not good for somebody who is 90, he’s just good and has won tournaments all over Canada,” said Rasmussen. “Tennis is the number one sport for life longevity for seniors. There is not only the physical element, but also a mental one with having to quickly react plus there’s the strategic component as well. The brain has to be functioning as well as the body.” 

The SCLTC received its BC Heritage Site designation in 1992, and celebrated its 100 years of operation in 1987. SCLTC has some good news to serve up as they recently applied to the global organization Centenary Tennis Clubs, which is not restricted to just grass court clubs, that have been in operation for a century or more. The CTC board of directors unanimously accepted SCLTC to be a pert of this organization this past April. 

“Tennis players from those other clubs in places like Monaco, France, Switzerland and England can come here and play for free, and our members can go to other courts abroad and do the same,”said Rasmussen. “It will literally put this little club on the map, so we are pretty excited about getting that notoriety in the tennis world.” 

SCLTC is always looking for new blood and it has never been a better time to become a member. A full-time in-town annual membership is $400 per year, plus one time $100 initiation fee, which Rasmussen said is a real bargain just from the maintenance alone that goes into SCLTC, while a guest is eligible to play up to three times per season for a drop-in fee of $25 per visit.

Those new to the game or looking to improve can now benefit from some time spent with SCLTC’s recently hired head tennis pro Rachel Gould who will be offering clinics, group lessons, as well as private and semi-private. Rasmussen says that semi-private lessons will be in the neighbourhood of $50 per hour, while private will be around $75 per hour. 

“She’s just phenomenal and she has the highest accreditation of any coach in Canada,” said Rasmussen. “Rachel and her husband always wanted to live on Vancouver Island, and was thrilled to join us when the position opened up over the winter. We just feel like she’s a gift to us from the tennis gods, and are still in disbelief that she’s now our tennis pro here.” 

SCLTC open their playing season from mid May to mid September and their opening day saw the club’s hard court full of kids trying their hand at the game. 

“It was great, we need to see that injection of youth into a place like this,” said Rasmussen.

The Grass Court Classic on the Canada Day long weekend was the first of three tournaments at the club this summer. The second will be the K Wilson Classic from July 26 to 28 which is the popular mixed doubles memorial tournament in honour of past club president Kay Wilson. The third tournament to grace the SCLTC courts will be the 137th annual Vancouver Island Lawn Tennis International Tennis Federation Masters that will be held from Aug. 4 through 7. 

“It’s just amazing how far people will travel to come play here,” said Rasmussen. “The same people have been coming year after year for 40 plus years just to play on these courts.” 

One of SCLTC’s goals is to make their club more inclusive to the public and they are hoping to see more people come out to either try or watch this long beloved sport. For more information visit the SCLTC website. 

“Most people on the island don’t realize how special this club is and how great the courts are,” said Rasmussen. “Depending on how much one travels the world we have a lot of players and vacationers walk away feeling like they have experienced something they may never experience again.”