Site 24 – Tennis Courts
Although known as the Tennis Courts, this area has long been the sporting heart of Burren Junction. Along with hosting the famous North West Tennis Championships, it has been home to cricket, school athletics, community touch football and, today, continues to host the Cubbaroo Campdraft. For generations, this precinct has been where the community has gathered to compete, celebrate and enjoy country sport.
Tennis has always been a popular sport throughout the Burren district. As early as 6 August 1904, newspapers reported tennis competitions being held on private courts at surrounding properties.
At a meeting of the Burren Junction Tennis Club on 21 March 1927, application was made to the New South Wales Lawn Tennis Association to conduct an annual tournament known as the North West Championships. Approval was granted, and the inaugural tournament was held later that year.
The first Men’s Singles Championship was won by Charlie Niland of Narrabri, while the first Ladies’ Singles Championship, played in 1930, was won by Mrs H. K. Radford of Burren Junction.
Under the energetic stewardship of R. G. (Dick) Garvey, Tournament Secretary from 1932 to 1964, the championships grew into one of country Australia’s premier tennis events. His role included advertising the tournament, arranging accommodation for competitors, sourcing tennis balls from Spalding and Slazenger, organising catering and preparing the courts.
The Burren Junction tournament soon earned the reputation of being the “Wimbledon of the Bush.” One of its most memorable championships came in 1938, when Australian tennis champions Jack Crawford and Vivian McGrath travelled to Burren Junction. McGrath defeated Crawford 8–6, 6–2 in the Men’s Singles Final, adding another remarkable chapter to the tournament’s history.
Play ceased during the Second World War between 1940 and 1946, before resuming in the post-war years. In the late 1940s a generator was installed to light four courts, allowing night tennis to flourish. When electricity arrived in Burren Junction in 1958, lighting was extended to the remaining courts.
The Tennis Club celebrated its 50th “Back to the Twenties” Anniversary Ball in 1985, and in 1988 the final North West Championships were held, bringing to a close more than sixty years of one of rural New South Wales’ most celebrated sporting events.
The annual Tennis Ball became one of Burren Junction’s biggest social occasions. Visitors travelled from across the north-west to compete during the King’s Birthday long weekend, and the School of Arts Hall was transformed with elaborate decorations and music from some of the best dance bands in the region.
As local resident John McGee recalled in My Childhood at Burren Junction 1925–1943:
“The biggest ball of the year was the Tennis Ball held on the Monday night of the King’s Birthday Weekend… The quality of the decorations was a talking point for days afterwards.”
The grounds have always been much more than tennis courts. They have hosted local cricket matches, school athletics carnivals, community sporting events and, during the drought years, family touch football competitions. Today, the adjoining recreation grounds remain home to the Cubbaroo Campdraft, one of Burren Junction’s major annual events, attracting competitors and visitors from across the region.
Today the community is working towards revitalising this important sporting precinct. The greatest challenge is restoring the water supply after the bore servicing the tennis courts, sports grounds, Rural Fire Service and public amenities deteriorated and is now running at only a trickle. Restoring this vital infrastructure will help ensure the grounds continue to serve future generations, just as they have for more than a century.
Historical information sourced from Visions of the Plains – A History of Burren Junction and District (2nd Edition) by Judy Field, together with My Childhood at Burren Junction 1925–1943 by John McGee.
Photos
Photo North West Tennis Championships
Championship tennis at Burren Junction during the heyday of the famous North West Championships, widely known as the “Wimbledon of the Bush”.
Photo Burren Junction Tennis Courts Today
The Burren Junction Tennis Courts remain an important part of the town’s sporting precinct and continue to sit alongside the recreation grounds and campdraft arena.
Photo Burren Junction Cricket Team (Facebook photograph)
Cricket has been played at the Burren Junction recreation grounds for generations, with local teams representing the district in competitions throughout the north-west.