When the Wayne Racquet Club first opened its doors, Billie Jean King was the Wimbledon champion. The reigning champion, Novak Djokovic, wouldn’t be born for another 14 years.
The venerable tennis center turned fifty this year, a “hidden gem” or “buried treasure” or whatever you might call this Colfax Road institution. For their members, it’s their outdoor Xanadu, tennis whites optional.
“In May, we celebrated our 50th anniversary with a big event,” recalls Debbie Blood, the club’s president. She’s been there since 1982, so she's seen the club through quite a bit of its history.
“We’re a big family here. We have members from 50 different towns with people from 23 countries. We’re so much more than just Wayne,” she says.
For those who have never as much as held a racquet but would like to try, the club has “Tennis for Newbies” letting you get started gently. Once you’re ready — everybody goes at their own pace — you “graduate” and get matched with players around your skill level. 84-year-olds can play 26-year-olds. Everybody can play everybody.
The club isn’t a walled-off tennis garden that hides itself away. They’ve competed against other area clubs for tournaments and have a donation program that collects gently-used racquets to give to local schools in need of equipment.
This isn’t a place that’s ready to sit on fifty years of laurels.
In case you’re wondering, this isn’t a place to find pickleball. They just don’t have the facilities to add this hot new tennis-adjacent trend. “I think it’s a great way for some people to keep active, get outdoors and get moving,” Debbie explains. “It’s just a very different setup.”
So whether you’re a seasoned pro or just looking to find a new sport, the family at the Wayne Racquet Club just has one question for you: “Who’s got next?”
The Wayne Racquet Club is at 170 Colfax Road in Wayne. For more information, go to waynetennis.com.
The club’s anniversary celebration was a day to keep your skills sharp with clinics and drills, get your heart rate going with “Cardio Tennis”, and filling your belly with food donated by Anthony Wayne Pizza and the Philly Pretzel Factory in Wayne.
To me, tennis is all about being outdoors with great friends and camaraderie while you're playing a fantastic game. It's a wonderful combination.