From the President (Bio)

Tennis South Canterbury board chairperson Greg Coutts is not seeking re election when his 3 year term is completed at the September AGM . This will complete Greg’s 2nd tenure of the role having served as president from 2001 to 2006.

Greg was talked into playing social bash tennis and even for a player of very limited ability got a lot of enjoyment from this and joined the Wai-iti club. Playing A Mixed grade was enjoyable . allowed a competitive aspect and a team culture Greg was persuaded to join joined the management committee of TSC by Watson Williams . This coincided with a restructure of TSC in 1997. This was an exciting time for TSC . The redevelopment programme reached a major milestone with the opening of the new pavilion . This was celebrated by the hosting the men’s International Satellite Tournament in April 1997 . Under Watson Williams the event attracted positive feedback from Tennis New Zealand Greg served on the organising committee and acted as liaison officer between the players and the tournament controller and referee . A highlight of this event was the participation of New Zealand’s Davis Cup squad and Mark Neilson played above his ranking to win the men’s singles title

The satellite tournaments led to Trans Tasman fixtures a one evening format that was fast moving and popular. TSC had shown they hat the ability to host major events led to the Davis Cup tie against Thailand . Fer Hazlett led a big team to professionally deliver a magic weekend

The legacy of the Davis Cup has reappeared with the successful running of the WTT over the last couple of years . Under the leadership of Peter Burt and an enthusiastic volunteer team the delivery of this event is something that all associated with TSC should be immensely proud of.

Greg was awarded a TNZ administration award in 2007 and life membership of TSC in 2019.