Richmond, BC – On March 23rd, the Western Indoor Tennis Club held a reunion for many of its players, organized by Vivian Lau. Almost 60 people attended the event for the club, which closed down 15 years ago. Opened in 1974 by the Becker Family, the Western Indoor Tennis Club was located at 4991 No. 5 Road. Some of you may recognize that address of a more recently closed down club: Sportstown. When the Western Indoor Tennis Club closed, it was sold and became Sportstown – a tennis and soccer club.
The Western Indoor Tennis Club was one of the first indoor tennis centres in BC, and it was home to many of the top junior high performance players at that time. Bob Moffat was the junior coach at the time, who later went on to become President of Tennis Canada.
The Western Indoor Tennis Club had many League teams for Divisions 1, 2, 3, and 5. For 7 years in a row, two of the club’s Division 1 League teams were ranked #1 in the Lower Mainland League. Those Division 1 teams included familiar names such as Lee Dobson, Kyoko, Rita, Paul Brocklebank and Mary Rankin.
Though the Western Indoor Tennis Club does not exist anymore, the club lives on in the spirit of our community and these players.