Centenary Tennis Clubs: East Glos members enjoy European adventure
By David Barham, East Glos member and CTC coordinator
Since 2023, East Glos has been a member of the Association of Centenary Tennis Clubs (CTC), an umbrella group comprising 96 clubs in 29 countries across five continents. All member clubs have a history dating back at least one hundred years. The CTC is a fraternity with a shared love and passion for tennis, promoting international friendship.
A benefit for East Glos members is the opportunity to play at CTC clubs globally. In the past two years, our members have taken advantage of this by playing in four different countries.
The next natural step was for East Glos to start competing in CTC events. We’re delighted to have competed in our first event earlier this month, the 2025 Centenary Clubs Friendly Doubles Tournament at the Rot Weiss Tennis Club in Berlin.
The East Glos CTC team. Back: Matt Cullingford, David Roper, Connor Ross, Byron Gay. Jane Tooley, Dave Barham. Front: Celia Lawson-Pegg, Fiona Richardson, Sally Miller, Nikki Kingston. (Di Gregory and Richard Pelling – not pictured)
Rot Weiss is one of the leading clubs in Europe with a history of developing several leading players who have distinguished themselves on the international stage. One of the most notable players is Gottfried Von Cramm, a grand slam champion and renowned David Cup player. In the modern era, Steffi Graf came to prominence at Rot Weiss with the club’s show court named in her honour.
In fact, it is on the balcony of the Steffi Graf Stadium that our CTC tournament experience started, with the welcome reception and order of play draw on the eve of the tournament. This was a theatrical-like touch, allowing participants a glimpse into the spectacle and celebrity surrounding international tennis events today.
Located in the Berlin suburb of Grunewald, it would be difficult to imagine a better sporting setting. With well-laid-out grounds, a stadium and high-quality clay courts, the Rot Weiss Club is surrounded by elegant residential areas amidst woods and lakes.
The tournament took place on the Saturday, featuring a ladies’ and men’s doubles event divided into age categories. East Glos was represented in the open age group by Celia Lawson-Pegg and Nikki Kingston, and Connor Ross and Matt Cullingford. Representing us in the over-45s were Sally Miller and Jane Tooley, and David Roper and Byron Gay. Di Gregory, Fiona Richardson, Richard Pelling and David Barham played in the over-55s.
For several team members, it would be their first experience of the terre battue or sandplatz, the French and German terms for conventional clay courts. It’s a slower surface which often requires protracted rallies, baseline scrambling, long slides, speed, and above all, stamina. That’s tennis on real clay, perhaps the most demanding of all surfaces. The surface is a mystery for many, but fuelled with optimism and laser-focused, the East Glos team gripped it and ripped it.
Each pair danced across the dirt and contributed to the team score. All shone brightly, but one pair especially, David Roper and Byron Gay, thrived and executed all the required surface techniques and tactics to win all three of their matches.
The CTC teams taking part
Once the last ball had been struck, attention turned towards the evening social function. However, in the interlude, some indulged in a dip in the adjacent Lake Hundekehle. The tournament dinner was a sumptuous affair with a selection of three meats together with various vegetables and salads. The cocktails, wine and beer, like the conversations and spirit of goodwill, flowed freely.
Speeches were made and humour abounded in an atmosphere which was as intoxicating as it was uplifting. Finally, presentations were made. Our hosts, who had been so generous, proved less so on the court, taking the tournament trophy. Although we had tied both of our rubbers with the team from Haagsche Lawn Tennis Club in The Hague and Westside Tennis Club, Wimbledon, Westside narrowly beat us to second place.
With a general reluctance to close affairs, the tournament finally concluded around midnight with handshakes and hugs. A celebration of tennis and new friendships made — not so much goodbyes, but farewells until the next time!
East Glos was founded 142 years ago, and it was the pioneering spirit of our founding members and the efforts of successive generations that made our membership of the CTC possible.
The Berlin event at Rot Weiss club is our first step into the international fellowship that is the CTC and a new chapter for our club, worthy of commentary and commemoration.