History & About Us

Daphne Fancutt A.M.

(nee) Daphne Seeney

Wimbledon Finalist

Daphne & Trevor 50th Wedding Anniversary

Daphne Fancutt was born Daphne Seeney in 1933, the youngest of 9 children. She grew up on a property 15 miles outside Monto in Queensland where she went to a one teacher school at Moonford. Daphne was schooled as a boarder for secondary school at Rockhampton Grammar and late at Brisbane Girls Grammar School where she was both junior and senior tennis champion. After coaching by her father, a former jockey and race horse trainer (running miles each day and hitting continuously against an old door leaning against the house) she eventually achieved her goal of going to a big tournament (the State titles in Bundaberg in 1951. Here she won two Queensland title the hard way. She had a pair of thin sandshoes which had blood oozing out the sides when she finished playing.) Because of these wins she was selected in the Queensland Wilson Cup Team. She became Qld Singles and Doubles champion and also won many other tournaments throughout Qld.

Daphe was selected in the Courier Mail coaching squad, a week with the great Davis Cup coach, Harry Hopman. Her fitness and attitude impressed him. Daphne’s never say die attitude gave her a competitive edge over her opponents throughout her tennis career which spanned several decades. Daphne’s achievements are amazing especially as she received no financial assistance from Tennis Australia or Tennis Queensland. A few of the major performances are listed below:

 

 

1952	Wilson Cup Team of Daphne Seeney, Fay Muller and Mary Schultz – Qld won
1953	Queensland Hardcourt Singles Champion
1956	Australian Open Singles Semi Finalist
1956	Final of Wimbledon Doubles and winner for German Doubles with Fay (nee Muller)
1956	Winner of German National Ladies Doubles
1956	Semi-finals Italian, French & Wimbledon Mixed Doubles with Trevor Fancutt (eventual husband)
1957	Defeated World’s No. 1 Louise Brough at Queens Club in England

 

DAPHNE FANCUTT SERVICES TO TENNIS
Daphne Fancutt has had a lifetime of service to tennis, recognised by being awarded a Member of the Order of Australia (AM) in January 1995 for her contribution to tennis as a player, coach and administrator.

• Has represented Queensland and Australia, both on and off the court throughout the world for over x50 years.
• Has owned and operated Fancutt Tennis Centre & Coaching Academy at Lutwyche for 45 years.
• Has devoted herself to development of thousands of children in the enjoyment of tennis by teaching them and also by placing them in social and fixture teams. For years she had 30 teams in one association alone on Sundays.
• Has always raised money for talented children to further their tennis careers e.g. Lisa McShea – Wimbledon Junior Doubles Champion 1992, Amy Jensen – Queensland No. 1 – 14 years 1993 and No. 1 in Women’s Doubles in 1995, Mark Way – No. 1 – 18/U Singles in 1995,  Adam Carey – Queensland Champion 12 years in 1993 and No. 2 in 1995 and many others. Daphne has also given free coaching, training, facilities and accommodation.
• Daphne has represented Queensland and Australia in different teams for 56 years e.g. Wilson Cup (and also The Beuno Cup 1984, 85, 86 & 87) Australia vs South Africa.
• Has captained and managed Queensland and Australia Junior and Senior teams e.g. Australian Junior Team 1977 and Australian Senior Team – The Beuno Cup again on a voluntary basis.
• Has had pupils or former pupils playing at Wimbledon for over 30 years starting with Wendy Turnbull (Wimbledon Doubles Champion) who she coached from 7 years old onwards.
• As a volunteer Daphne has previously coached children with disabilities and children from Nudgee orphanage and also deaf and dumb children. She has coached a player with one eye and two with one arm all became good tennis players.
• In 1994, Daphne won gold medals in the Australian Masters Games, the World’s Masters Games and the Asian Pacific Games with friend and former Wimbledon partner Fay (Muller) Colthorpe.
• Has often given Fancutt Tennis Centre facilities free of charge for charities fund raising.
• In 1988 Daphne was the Tennis Ambassador for Expo 88.
• Was an inaugural member of Womensport Qld with voluntary service for 8 years.

• Was an inaugural member of the Qld Quota Club.
• In 1995 Daphne received a Member of the Order of Australia (AM) for services to tennis as a player, coach and administrator.
• In 2001 Daphne was invited to be an Ambassador for Tennis Queensland and is still continuing in this capacity.
• In 2000, Daphne was awarded The Australian Sports Award medal to commemorate Australian Sporting Achievement from the Queen and Governor General of Australia and the Prime Minister.
• In 2011, Daphne, aged 79 years is still coaching young champions, such as Katie Lee and Maria Sorbello (Australian School Girls Champion for 3 consecutive years 2004, 2005, 2006), both have represented Qld. At the Fancutt Tennis Centre & Coaching Academy in Brisbane. Daphne continues to be a volunteer for Tennis Qld, as an ambassador at tournaments and tennis events.

• Daphne is president of the, “Fancutt Junior Tennis Club” which has been looking after the tennis needs of thousands of children for over 50 years. The Junior Club has recently raised funds for a coach’s child who has cerebral palsy to purchase a special necessary computer. Last year, she also raised money to assist the Innisfail Tennis Centre recover from the devastation of Cyclone Larry.
• She was a guest speaker for the Federation Cup luncheon in Melbourne 2005 during the Australian Open and also guest speaker at the International Club of Australia luncheon in 2006 during the Australian Open.
• Since 2006 Daphne has been a voluntary member of the appeal committee for Tennis Queensland.
• Daphne has not lost her passion, enthusiasm and love of tennis. Also her love of Queensland as a state and her desire to enrich the quality of children’s lives through tennis. She prides that there are no obese children at Fancutts.
• Her outside interests are Fishing, Gardening and Golf.

 

 

THE HISTORY OF FANCUTTS TENNIS CENTRE
The history of Fancutt’s Tennis Centre is described by Trevor & Daphne as follows:
We purchased in January 1962, three Tennis Courts in very bad repair and an 80 year old Queensland home on 1¼ acres of land, in the suburb or Lutwyche, very close to the centre of Brisbane. How proud we were to call it Fancutt Tennis Centre & Coaching Academy.
Three decomposed granite courts that required sweeping, watering, sweeping, rolling and marking every morning and evening (three times on Saturdays and Sundays).  A lot of work, especially pushing a hand roller. Later, we bought a small Kelpie tractor and modified it to do the rolling. Our children had fun driving the tractor. The courts were lit by shaded light bulbs. We converted them to fluorescent tubes. The Pro Shop was a small partition in the centre shed. The sheds were unlined with galvanized tin roof and sides, no windows, with a dirt floor. We were happy to have our own centre and worked hard to pay off the loan. We could not afford to pay for assistance so we did everything ourselves. We both had lucrative offers to go to work in America, but decided to stay in Australia and work very hard because we dearly wanted our children to grow up in Qld Australia.
Our courts were also available to visiting overseas players and interstate players, competing in tournaments in Australia. The people who played here over the years reads like a Who’s Who. To name a few – Rod Laver, Margaret Court, Ken Rosewall, Mal Anderson, Ashley Cooper, Bjorn Borg, Steffi Graf, Hana Mandlikova, Pam Shriver, Tim Wilkinson, Ivan Lendl, Pat Rafter, Wendy Turnbull, Evonne Cawley, Harry Hopman (coaching), Geoff Masters, Kenny Rogers, Greg Chappell, Tim Horan, Greg Hansford, Alan Border, Cliff Richards, Steve Holland, Jon Sieben, Stefan, Jana Novatna and Pat Cash. In spite of all these exciting activities, we stuck to our main objective, which is to keep a competitive but happy family environment at Fancutt Tennis Centre. Now in 2011, we are seeing third generation pupils coming thru after our 40 years in operation.

HISTORY OF OUR THREE SONS

Charlie (always the entrepreneur) promoted the Gold Coast Classic at Southport which was won by Peter McNamara. Charlie and brother Michael, proved their potential as a doubles team when they defeated Davis Cup champs Pat Cash and Peter McNamara at Southport. Charlie promoted , “Lendl live at Milton”, the only opportunity for people in Brisbane to see him play. He promoted the Manchester Tournament in the UK, won by Stefan Edberg. He also started National Team Tennis in Wales. But his big moment came, when he called a meeting with Paul McNamee and Pat Cash in Melbourne to discuss his idea of a World Mix Doubles Event. He wanted the tournament named after his great hero and friend Harry Hopman. This, as you know, has become, “The Hopman Cup”. As co-founders of the event, they take great pride in the success of the very popular event in its 17th year in Perth as the fabulous Burswood Hotel and Casino.
In 1998, Charlie started a live-in coaching program at Fancutts Tennis Academy for overseas and interstate juniors. Full boarding is available and coaching & training programs arranged. Involvement in fixture play and tournaments is also organised. Pupils attend school, as this keeps open the opportunity to qualify for USA University scholarships. Players require a certain academic level to apply for these scholarships. Over the past years, Fancutts have organised scholarships for many of our pupils. This is an additional part of our junior development program. The pupils have come from Darwin, Griffith, Melbourne, Perth, Gold Coast, Indonesia, Solomon Islands, Japan, Vanuatu and Bali.

Michael, now married to Liz, a former Fancutts pupil and top school player, was the head tennis coach at the University of Knoxville, Tennessee. In his third year he successfully improved the tennis teams NCAA National rating from 79 to 2. You can find out more about Michael’s Tennis program by clicking, http://www.utsports.com/sports/m-tennis/spec-rel/mtencoach.html

Chris, was the head tennis coach at the International Tennis School of Kooralbyn, before returning to Fancutts as Head Coach of our Junior Development Program. He has two children, Thomas and Natalie. Tom at 5 years of age competed regularly with 12 year old children in our fixtures & tournaments. He has inherited a passion for tennis and just loves to play.

Council and Government Support of Fancutt Tennis
Thanks to grants from the Brisbane City Council and the Queensland Government Sports and Recreation, we have been able to upgrade the courts to the very highest level. The best lighting, plexipave courts resurfaced, new wiring, plus our tropical setting, has Fancutt Tennis Centre looking fantasic. A beautiful tropical garden surrounds the courts creating a friendly, relaxing atmosphere. Fancutts is situated 5 mins from the centre of Brisbane, 8 mins from the International airport and one minute from a shopping centre and within hours drive to the best beaches in the world. Fancutts are as proud today as they were when they first bought the property.
Fancutts also have a double sided practice wall for young champions and 2½ court training courts for, “Tiny Tennis” (3-6yrs) program.
“Tennis never gets any better than at Fancutts – we service tiny tots, primary and secondary school children and adults in programs suitable to their standard. All in a fun and friendly atmosphere. Don’t forget our weather is beautiful one day and perfect the next.”