Wombourne Tennis Club was initially established prior to 1960 and comprised of two red ash courts. Matches were originally limited to the summer months, primarily between April and October as the courts would become soft and have their tape markings lift during the winter. Matches were further limited due to the lack of night-time lighting.
Many local families situated around the village green played a large part in the club, its members and how it was run; primarily the Shaw-Hellier's, the Chubb's, the Thrupp's and the Crowe's. The Shaw-Hellier's controlled parts of tennis and cricket club while the Chubb family home and garden existed where the main club house and upper bowling green are now situated. The 'Clubhouse' originally comprised of two sheds, one for the cricket section and one for the tennis. The tennis shed was operated by the Thrupp family who lived opposite the tennis courts.
The Crowe family were involved during Saturday afternoons where many social tennis matches and family events would take place. For those taking part, the Crowe family; located where the Co-Op shop now is, would provide lunch and afternoon tea. Social functions were held jointly with the cricketers, many of which were held within the village hall with venues progressing to outside of the village as each sports section grew.
Eventually the Chubb and Thrupp houses were demolished to make way for the present clubhouse, the cricket scoreboard / tennis hut and the third tennis court. The main clubhouse continued to grow with the addition of a connected social lounge that sits above the upper bowls green which was laid as the bowls club grew.
During the expansion of the tennis section, new all weather courts were laid allowing for league matches to be played all year round. The courts maintenance and upkeep was performed by the clubs members who worked hard on self financing the club through fundraising events.
Groundsmen were eventually hired to look after the tennis, cricket and bowls facilities and large floodlights were installed across all three tennis courts to allow play to continue into the evenings. Today the tennis section is at the heart of sport in the village with an ever growing number of dedicated junior and senior members.
In 2018 a Sport Turf surface was laid down replacing two of the hard-courts. The surfaces are covered by a thin layer of sand, offering a new style of tennis that is more comfortable to play on. The third court was replaced with the same surface during March 2021. Alongside a series of inter-club tournaments, a number of men's, ladies and mixed teams operate within the Staffordshire summer leagues and the Hereford and Worcester winter leagues.
The tennis, cricket and bowls sections often host large gatherings, social events and tournaments and each club is always looking for eager new members to be a part of our large family.