BARBARA ROSE-INNES
At the age of 8, I was coached by Mr Puncic, who became a well know coach in South Africa.
I played club tennis and participated in leagues and tournaments in singles, doubles and mixed.
In 1976, I moved to Paris and was fortunate enough to play at Montrouge Tennis Club. This was a new experience. I received a players’ card and arrived at the red clay courts to join in and play, not realizing that there was no organized tennis. You had to make a rendezvous with another player. I informed the organizer that I did not know anyone. Because of the shortage of courts in Paris, there was system in place where you put your card in a slot for a court. A bell rings after 40 minutes and you have to vacate the court and the next players go on court. When the players came off court, the organizer asked if someone would like to play with me. They asked if a was a classe player and as I was ignorant of this system, I replied no – so nobody would play with me. Fortunately, I entered the club championships and reached the finals in the singles and in the mixed doubles. The red clay was very slow and I was used to serve and volley, not realizing how easy it was to pass me at the net. However, the Parisians were none the wiser and all the women thought I played like a man, as only the men would run up and volley.
We are so spoilt in South Africa and do not appreciate how cheap and easy it is to play tennis.
In 1979, we moved to Sasolburg where I won the club championships. Parents asked me to coach their children and because I wanted to coach properly, I did all the coaching exams, The Beginners, Intermediate, Advanced, Provincial, Tournament Play and became a Professional South African Tennis Coach. I also coached at Zamdela Township.
Coaching 5 hours a day for three years soon took its toll and I collapsed on the court with two slipped discs. I was rushed to hospital in great pain. After six months I still battled to walk and sit and all my muscles collapsed. I had back surgery and two screws were placed above the sacrum. Bone was taken from my hip and the spine was fused. With intensive physio and exercise, I recuperated well and played tennis again 4 months after the op.
We moved to Johannesburg in 1983.
- I served on club committees and was elected Chairman of Parkview Tennis Club.
- I also served on the Gauteng Central Committee (then known as Southern Transvaal)
- In 1992, I accompanied a group of 12 juniors on a tour of the sugar circuit which included Boland, Western Province, George, Port Elizabeth and East London. Peter Calitz and Michelle Gough who now both play tennis in Cape Town, were in this squad.
- I organized the Central Districts League. I had a computer program drawn up to ensure the smooth running of the league. {The first of its kind in Johannesburg).
SOUTH AFRICAN VETERANS TENNIS ASSOCIATION
In 1990, I joined the Veterans Tennis Association. I played Inter Provincial tennis for 33 years, firstly for Gauteng Central and from 1996 for Western Province. I also played provincial tournaments.
I was selected to represent South Africa in the ITF World Team Competitions as follows:
1996 The Maria Esther Bueno Cup – in Klagenfurt, Austria – in the Lake Districts.
1999 The Maureen Connolly Cup – in La Manga, Spain and Barcelona – as captain.
2001 The Maureen Connolly Cup - in Perth, Western Australia – as captain.
2002 The Maureen Connolly Cup – Vienna, Austria – as captain.
2003 The Alice Marble Cup – in AliBey, Antalya, Turkey – as captain.
2004 The Alice Marble Cup – in AliBey, Antalya, Turkey - as captain
2008 The Kitty Godfrey Cup – in AliBey, Antalya, Turkey.
2009 The Kitty Godfrey Cup – in Perth, Western Australia
2013 The Althea Gibson Cup – in Poertschack, Austria – as captain
2015 The Althea Gibson Cup – in Umag, Croatia
2018 The Queens Cup – in Umag, Croatia
2019 No events due to Covid
2020 No events due to Covid
2021 The Queens Cup – in Mallorca, Spain – South Africa had to cancel because we were put on the Covid red list
2022 The Queens Cup – in Palm Beach, Florida, USA. We won bronze medals.
2023 The Doris Hart Cup – in Mallorca, Spain. As captain.
2024 The Doris Hart Cup – in AliBey, Antalya. We won bronze medals.
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In 1996, I was Tournament Director for the ITF WORLD Team competition held at the Wanderers in Johannesburg. It entailed finance, budget, Accommodation, Transport, Airport arrivals, Courts and grounds, capturing results on computer, Umpires, Captains’ Meeting (there were 16 countries participating}.
In 2000, the ITF chose Cape Town to host the special millennium event of the World Team Competition and World Individual Championships. I was tasked to persuade Kelvin Grove to host the event. The Kelvin Grove Committee thought that there would be problems with payment of refreshments and food, so all participants were made Temporary members and could pay by card. Johann and Margie Barnard swung the vote and were incredible in helping to make this event one of the best ever. 493 tennis players and 211 spouses/companions from 27 countries participated. South Africa, in particular Cape Town, was put on the map as an international venue for tennis. The chairman of ITF thanked me for my hard work and invited me to be a guest at Wimbledon. I was also invited to the opening ceremony. Lucky me!
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I was a Provincial finalist in the SPAR Women’s Doubles in 1998, 1999, and 2000
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WESTERN PROVINCE TENNIS EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE
In l996, I moved to Cape Town and was co-opted onto the WP Veterans Committee. The following year, I was voted in as Chairman and served in this capacity until 2002.
I was President of WP Tennis for 4 years from 2002-2006.
In 2007, I was again voted in as Chairman of the WP Seniors committee, a position I held until 2012.
After a two year break, I was voted onto the Western Province Tennis Executive Committee. I am still a member of the WP Tennis Executive Committee.
I also served on the Western Province Tennis League committee for 8 years.
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I have written a book on the history of Western Province at the Rondebosch Headquarters. It is due for editing and printing.
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I was Vice Chairman of the Western Province Sports Council and the Western Cape Sports Council.
I was tasked with drawing up a CODE OF CONDUCT, which applied to all who participated in the Western Cape Sports Arena. The Western Cape at the time consisted of Western Province, Boland, South Western Districts and West Coast. Participants are Sportsmen, Sportswomen, Coaches, Managers, Any Other Officials.
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INTERNATIONAL CLUB OF SOUTH AFRICA (IC Club)
South Africa is a branch of a worldwide network of tennis players . It is a global club through which members can call other members anywhere in South Africa or the world at any time. The motto being “Hands across the net, friendships across the ocean”.
I was invited to be a member of this association after representing South Africa in the World Team Competitions.
The highlights for me were:
2018 International Club of SA, toured and played in:
- Rome, Italy, against an Italian team. They invited us to the opening of the Italian Open, where we lunched and dined with the participants.
- We travelled to Monte Carlo, where we played on centre court.
- Lastly, we were invited to The French Open in Paris and attended the opening cocktail party.
2019 International Club of SA, toured and played tennis in
- Prague, Check Republic. It was a four country challenge and we played against the Check republic, Ireland and the Americans. We won the trophy and there was much celebration.
- Budapest, Hungary. We had a close battle against their IC members, but lost. A wonderful experience.
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I joined Kelvin Grove in 2016, where I play tennis, bowls and attend gym classes.
I organize the Thursday Morning Ladies League and social tennis and have 45 ladies on my Whatsapp group.
I also played in the Saturday League in the Singles, Doubles and Mixed leagues. I also played in the annual tennis championships
I have served on the Kelvin Tennis Committee.
Barbara Rose-Innes. (2024)