Club History
SOURCES
A picture of how the Charles River Tennis Club has evolved depends on four sources. First, a pamphlet entitled "50 Years of Tennis," printed and distributed to members on June 23, 1979 in conjunction with a program celebrating the fiftieth anniversary of the first play on the site of the club. The pamphlet was composed by members of a committee, without acknowledgement of individual contributions. It supplies a brief narrative history, notes for the program, and some photographs, but chiefly a series of lists, including as a complete list of members up to 1979 as could be compiled.The other three sources are lists of club champions, occasional newsletters, and the living memory of current and former members.
ORIGINS
The club was founded in 1934, but its antecedents trace back to 1929. A group of some nine boys from the neighborhood, in the habit of gathering for scrub games at the Leggee house on Massasoit St., decided to try playing tennis, using "wooden paddles, some chicken wire for a net, and a soft rubber ball." They liked it well enough to get a rule book and to construct a rough court--they dug up some grass and leveled the dirt undersurface, then received donations of a net, some posts, and a court liner. At some point they put down a red clay surface over the dirt, and red clay remained the playing surface into the 1960s.
In 1930 the players started the Charles River Tennis Tournament, which continues today in the form of men's and women's club championships in singles and doubles. In 1935 the Charles River Tennis Club Open Tournament was instituted. It remains the premier event sponsored by the club each summer, being now (since 1983) called the Bud Leggee Open Tournament, in honor of the club founder and long-time president. By 1935, then, the fundamental structure of summer tournaments at Charles River had been set.
The popularity of the single Leggee court had already led the group in 1934 to conceive the idea of adding a second court and of instituting an actual club with membership and by-laws. The by-laws were written and the club founded, but as "50 Years" describes it, it was a close call getting the court built: the family granted use of the land, and the players raised some $500 to build the court, but only late intervention by a benefactor, William S. MacDonald, brought the project to completion.
As it existed in the summer of 1935, then, the club had bylaws, a schedule of internal and open tournaments, and two red clay courts. These were what today are the "lower courts," at the corner of Charles River Road and Massasoit St.
CONTRACTION, THEN EXPANSION
"50 Years" portrays the club in the 30s as "very socially minded," hosting many parties, "sometimes with dancing on the courts, games and usually a treasure hunt." At the same time, the club helped put together an interclub league that led to increased tennis in the area.When war came in 1941, interest in tennis dropped as players went into military service, but the club stayed in operation and channeled its social energy into fundraising. These funds, it would seem, provided the financial basis for a wave of expansion in the 1960s. In 1966 the club was incorporated as a non-profit organization under Massachusetts law. Incorporation was a prelude to adding two more courts in 1967 (today's "upper courts"), but also to reshaping the club into its present day configuration. A clubhouse and a work shed were built behind the new courts, and the red clay was removed in favor of a Har-Tru or "green clay" surface. Most importantly, the club acquired property in its own name: while the lower courts remain the property of the Leggee family, the upper courts and the clubhouse belong to the club proper. In the 1970s further improvements were made: the upper courts were equipped with a lighting system for night play, while both upper and lower courts were equipped with a sprinkler system for improving ease of maintenance.
Over the past twenty-five years different patterns of organized play and social events have grown up, but they do not affect the fundamental character of the club. The final paragraph of the "50 Years" narrative account remains as true today as it was in 1979, happily so:
"This club has always strived to offer its members all reasonable conveniences. Because it is a non-profit undertaking, the members have the privilege of participating in its affairs and guiding its progress. One single membership fee encompasses all functions [except tournaments], with no additional charge for court time, match play or use of the lights. We welcome the participation of all who might be interested in the game of tennis and the programs of this club."