The West Side Tennis Club Celebrates Its 125th Anniversary
This year marked a special year for The West Side Tennis Club in Forest Hills, as the historic club celebrated its 125th anniversary. To ring in the anniversary, the Club hosted a day-long celebration, giving its members and the public a chance to play on the famous grass courts before taking in exhibition matches from former professional tennis players, followed by a ceremony and a dinner.
Luke Jensen, Vince Spadea, Jan-Michael Gambill and Michael Russell were the pros who battled it out on West Side’s center court, with the matches played of one FAST-4 set. The players entertained the guests with some excellent tennis and some good-natured ribbing of each other.
After the tennis, a ceremony was held to celebrate the Club’s anniversary, while also honoring the legacies of Jack Kramer, a two-time U.S. singles champion; and Maureen Connolly, winner of the “Grand Slam” of tennis in 1953. A banner was raised for them outside Forest Hills Stadium.
“Our members and their guests seemed to love the event,” said Bob Ingersole, Tennis Director of The West Side Tennis Club. “We had about 200-250 people here, and about 50 playing on the grass courts before the exhibition event. People from places like Australia and Germany came in for the event, and we had great representation from the USTA and the families of the people we honored. It all came together for a very nice event.”
Much of the proceeds from the celebration went towards the West Side Tennis Club Foundation, a non-profit organization that helps introduce tennis to children and the physically-challenged, while also preserving the history of the West Side Tennis Club.
“After we set up the Foundation, we kept adding to its mission statement as we saw needs in the community,” said Ingersole. “First, it was helping needy children through tennis, as we do a great deal of outreach to public schools to introduce tennis to the local communities, and provide scholarships to our programs based on need and not ability. Anywhere there are kids who have potential needs, we are interested in trying to empower them through tennis.”
West Side’s Foundation is just one example of the initiatives and progress undertaken that have allowed it to sustain over the past 125 years. Even over the last 15 years, the junior program at West Side has grown, an indoor tennis facility was built to make it year-round and the renovated Forest Hills Stadium is once again bringing in concerts and top-notch entertainers.
One of the goals for the future is to try and bring professional tennis back to West Side. The Club hosted the U.S. Open Championships for more than 60 years, and Ingersole hopes to one day bring back professional tennis.
The West Side Tennis Club’s history is unlike any other and its prestige and tradition have been the foundation of its success over the years. The celebration this past summer was symbolic of the community-oriented focus of the club, and it will continue to be a staple of the New York tennis community for years to come.
