1980s – Community Spirit and Camaraderie
By the 1980s, Hilton Tennis Club had become the heart of the community. Membership peaked in 1983 with 115 full members, so many that the committee was forced to close applications. Brian Rowlands recently came across the club’s 1985 Men’s Singles Club Championships draw. He noted that there were 32 entries and asked, guess who won? The evergreen, Darrel Slaughter - who is still playing excellent tennis today, in 2025.
Social life flourished alongside tennis. Brian fondly recalled club weekends away in the Drakensburg. For many years, Dave Cook, a club member and Parks Board employee was able to book the whole of Coleford, a parks camp near Underberg for club members and their families. Brian also remembered sit-down dinners prepared by members like Gail Slaughter and Chris Burczak, with Veryll Mackrory providing the desserts - and the time-honoured Friday evening gatherings at the pub. He also recalled light-hearted incidents: his own bakkie falling into the azaleas, and having to be towed out the next morning, regular Tuesday night tennis, a jug of water being poured over a certain lady in the pub, and a Saturday night game called “blow the feather” with a ping-pong ball, which became the talk of the village. One year a piano was hoisted onto the back of a truck and members drove around Hilton singing Xmas carols. There was a certain amount of drinking going on and Brian recalled someone falling off the truck.
The Christmas Concert became an annual highlight. As Ron Cooper recounts, it began in the early ’80s when Sandi Cooper encouraged the Scheltema children to perform. Soon adults insisted on joining in, leading to legendary performances and unforgettable acts: Brian Rowlands, as Freddie Mercury, and Vernon Hickinbotham’s comic “Barcelona” duet when Vernon’s wig fell off and he hastily replaced it back to front, covering his eyes, Derek Hornsey and Kate Hess doing "Dinner for One", all the men doing “Swan Lake” in tutus, Sandi Cooper, Nicole Edwards (nee Cooper) singing 'The Rose' and 'Oh Lord it’s hard to be humble' sung by Jim Reekie and Ron Cooper, and a dance routine, choreographed by Janene Cooper and performed together with Angela Junkuhn.
Family quiz nights also became a fixture, with fierce competition and heated debates but great enjoyment and the Reekie family invariably coming out on top. Meanwhile, youngsters amused themselves in sometimes hair-raising ways, such as climbing the tall conifers along Committee Lane and daring each other to travel from tree to tree, much to the concern of members playing on court 1. The guilty parties were namely Lloyd Rowlands, Stuart Reekie and Brett Cooper.
1990s – Expansion and Junior Tournaments
By the 1990s, the club offered seven different membership classes and boasted 209 members. The annual Club Championships were hotly contested, while the Hilton Junior Tournament became a five-day event, each July, drawing more than 200 entrants and using courts at St Anne’s, Hilton College, and Laddsworth. Many children, some now around the world, still recall the junior tournament as “the” event of their school holidays.
We must express gratitude to Claire Sherriffs and Maureen Rowlands, who first initiated the junior tournament. Then Gail Slaughter took over the responsibility in 1986 and ran it for the following fifteen years (!) Lloyd Rowlands took over the responsibility from Gail, ably assisted by having Chris Folker and Richard Katandika to organise the children’s matches while the club focused on the refreshments and tuck shop for parents and players. Chris Folker, CF Tennis, made a considerable contribution to the club by substantially raising the standard of junior tennis as well as of coaching in general, in the whole area.
2000s – Consolidation and Tournaments
In the mid-2000s, the club began hosting weekend doubles tournaments, attracting players from across KwaZulu-Natal. These annual events quickly became highlights of the local tennis calendar and have been able to generate income for the club thanks to the very generous sponsorship by Greg Downs of Hilton Quarry Spar, who had initially sponsored the Junior Tournament since 2007. Greg has continued to support the club not only providing meals and prizes for all the tournaments but also providing benches for the James Craib Park and funding the ongoing maintenance.
A Founders Tournament, an internal club event was usually organised in August or September. The Founders Trophy, donated by Lance Roberts, is presented to the winning couple in a mixed doubles turn-about event. The Founders Tree, a Liquid Amber, planted in 1952, had to be removed nearly 50 years later when it became unsafe and dwarfed the clubhouse, but a replacement was planted in the early 2000s, continuing the legacy.
2010s – Challenges and Renewal
In late 2017, the club received National Lotteries funding, enabling the resurfacing of five courts by Barretts. But in early 2018, disaster struck when lightning destroyed the floodlights and much of the clubhouse wiring, melting appliances in the hall and kitchen. Renovations led to a modernised layout, including expanded kitchen facilities and new showers in the ablution blocks.
Those who remembered the legendary Christmas concerts encouraged a large contingent of members to perform in one last concert in 2019, emulating the golden years of the club concerts.
2020s – Resilience and Changing Times
Like everywhere else, COVID-19 brought strict playing restrictions, including temperature taking and recording, but members were grateful simply to be able to play at all.
Sadly, Chris Folker immigrated to England in 2022. CF Tennis was taken over by Mitch Deetlefs of Ground Strokes Academy, who employed a number of coaches. The Friday night junior coaching had been incredibly popular with juniors of all ages and standards. As from 2022 the numbers began to wane as the older children moved away. Troy Rowlands must be acknowledged as having worked extremely hard and efficiently to run the bar on Friday nights for a few years but eventually the dwindling number of juniors negated the need for refreshments for parents.
By 2025, the Junior Tournament, once a 200-player event, now in 2025, struggles to attract 50 entrants, and is completed in just one or two days – a reflection of changing times, the competing events and multiple distractions for children.
In 2025, thanks to the generosity of member, Lindsay Bam and Matelec, the old floodlights, installed by Vernon Hickinbotham all those years ago, were modernised to current standards.
A Living Legacy
From a single sand court and a log hut to today’s six all-weather courts and thriving clubhouse, Hilton Tennis Club has grown through the dedication of its members. Brian Rowlands wished to make special mention of Ted “Swampy” Walker, who was a most generous and popular member of the club, who sadly had heart failure and died on court 3 one Saturday afternoon. Brian added, “Many clubs from 75 years ago have closed down, but ours is still going strong thanks to you guys.” Seventy-five years on, Hilton Tennis Club remains a place where tennis, friendship, and community spirit flourish.
