Horsham , 5 March 2019 | Tennis Victoria

Brian has been an active member of the Central Park Tennis Club (CPTC), and formally Methodist Tennis Club since 1955 and started playing at the age of 11. At 13 years of age, Brian stepped into the senior ranks of tennis, when his usual Saturday afternoon game of cricket was cancelled due to bad weather.  Brian never went back to cricket and went on to play tennis for 38 years until his shoulder could no longer enable him to swing the racket how he wanted.  Brian has said that if his shoulder had not given away then he would still be playing to this day.

At just the age of 15, Brian went on to win his first senior final victory back in 1957-8. He has competed in Club, Association and Regional Events, Tournaments, Melbourne Country Week and inner-town challenges. There have been many memorable victories with one being the Wimmera Pennant Tennis Association grand final win in 1965-66 and the CWTA Pennant Grand Final in 1974-75. Brian was also fortunate enough to play with all four of his immediate family and go on to again win the CWTA Pennant Grand Final in 1987-88.

Brian has held administrative and official positions with the Presbyterian, Methodist, Church of England, Central Wimmera Tennis Association and Central Park Tennis Clubs.

Brian was awarded Life Membership to the CPTC in 1979 and has been on the committee of the Wimmera Tennis Council for 25 years and was also awarded Life Membership to the Wimmera Tennis Council in 1982.

At CPTC, Brian has held the positions of President (3 years), Delegate (25 years), General Committee (32 years), Selection Committee (3 years), and Social Committee and Treasurer (15 years). Brian is still active on the Committee and has not missed a year of service since 1968, with a total number of years 55 years being on the committee.

Brian has enabled the club to conserve money on infrastructure over several years. Instead of paying for technical advice or paying for hands-on labour, Brian has taken the lead in this area. Brian and his brother Ken built eight courts at the complex in the 1970’s and 1990’s.

More recently, Brian has been involved in the construction of six new courts. For the recent two courts, Brian oversaw the construction, as this was a partnership between the Horsham City Netball Club and Horsham Rural City Council. Brian built all the access gates, recycled existing poles and designed the new fence layout. Brian also spent many hours mapping out the levels on graph paper and then worked out how much fill and top coat would be required as well as the associated costs. The engineer assigned by the Council dismissed Brian’s calculations and arranged for an expert to come in. The expert’s calculations were identical to Brian’s and from then on in, Brian’s advice was respected. Brian is an asset to CPTC and has saved the club thousands of dollars to the benefit all of its members and the community.

Brian is a man of few words but when needed, he has always been there with sound advice and nothing has ever been too much trouble when it comes to assisting around the club. Brian has achieved so much on and off the court, but he remains active at the club due to his love for tennis.

Congratulations Brian and thank you for your contribution to Tennis in Victoria.