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| Neville is 92 years young |
We will feature here some of the members of the East Croydon Kilsyth Tennis Club who have made incredible contributions to tennis and to the development and culture of our club.
One such Legend is Neville Asquith
What a great character he is around our club. Always ready to offer a word of encouragement and always ready to lend a helping hand ....... He was President of the Kilsyth Tennis Club for more than 25 years - and has been a much loved Deputy President here at East Croydon Kilsyth Tennis Club over the past three years.
He has been a driving force behind the success of the Veteran's Masters tennis competition over many years.
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| Neville is an inspiration to others at the club You can keep learning no matter your age. |
An aviation and cricket enthusiast, always ready to talk flying and cricket with anyone who'd listen. A boxer in his younger days (he can still throw a nifty left jab), owned and managed three supermarkets - and confirmed to have been a pretty handy tennis player himself. With such a colourful and earthy background, and with so many years of conscientious service at two tennis clubs - no wonder he is such a popular and respected character around our club.
Neville played a pivotal role in the successful merger of Kilsyth and East Croydon Tennis Clubs - and the enthusiasm and good humour which Neville brings to the club is something that Veteran club members in particular cherish about him. Our tennis club depends upon wonderful characters such as Neville, who are so generous in volunteering their time and skills to help keep the club running.
We are proud to say that Neville was awarded Life Membership for his long service to Kilsyth Tennis Club - and that he has continued his selfless service with us at East Croydon
Good on ya Nifty!
And another such legend ..... Clyde Smithwick
Clyde is one of those colourful characters that any club is grateful to have around. With a lively and convivial personality - combined with a mischievous and playful sense of humour - he brightens up the club whenever he strolls in..
As a tennis player, he played at a very high standard in his early years. An accomplished B Special pennant player, he earned a tennis scholarship to an American College and worked as a member of the coaching staff at the famed Harry Hopman Tennis Clinic. And yet despite having played at such a high level, he remains more than happy to make a up a doubles four around the club whenever needed.
Whether it's because so much of Clyde's professional life was spent as a clinical psychologist helping people develop a greater sense of well-being, or perhaps because he spent so many years coaching hundreds of people to improve their tennis capabilities, one thing cannot be denied - Clyde can rarely resist offering well-intentioned advice to team-mates about their tennis technique!
Clyde is incredibly widely-known throughout the Veteran Masters competition. There is hardly ever an opposition team that visits our club at East Croydon that is not familiar with Clyde.
He is respected as much for his grinning, jovial personality as he is for his unfailing sportsmanship on the court. Although Clyde is recognised as a fierce competitor, he is also well known for being a player who will never fail to acknowledge an opponent's good shot, nor to genuinely congratulate an opponent on their victory.
It is easy to be a gracious winner - but to be equally gracious in defeat is the true test of a player's sportsmanship …. And Clyde passes this test every time!
Although some might say he can be infuriatingly loud and perhaps a little overly boisterous at times, never-the-less the vets at East Croydon tennis club are all appreciative to have a sociable and entertaining character such as Clyde amongst their ranks.
The simple fact is this - he's one of those charismatic and endearing people that just make you want to smile ....... Novak Djokavic might well be known as "The Joker" of international grand slam tennis - but our local club definitely has a joker of it's own. So if you're an over-50 tennis player, come down and join us for a hit at East Croydon KilsythTennis Club and meet some of our other colourful characters such as Hughie, Peter, Richie, Jerry, Colin, Cookie, Lutz, Terry, Chris, Brian and Macca (a.k.a Miami) - not to forget the Barnes boys.
See More Club Legends ....... And also check out the profile of our long-serving Club Secretary legend, Steve Baldry
