East Glos Club has been part of Cheltenham’s sport scene since the reign of Queen Victoria, and has welcomed thousands of members throughout the years.
The club first started out as a cricket club in 1882, and it wasn’t until 1885 when tennis was first played on the grounds; as the wives of the cricketers were bored of watching their husbands play.
Steve Worsley, Rackets Manager for the club, shared a bit of the club’s history, the evolution into a multi-racket sport club, and the appeal of the place for people who want to join.
“It’s been one of the bigger tennis clubs in Cheltenham and in Gloucestershire for its entire history. Over time it’s developed into offering more racket sports, so we now have squash and paddle and pickleball and racketball.” Said Worsley.
There has been constant change throughout time, as the club has been trying to evolve, adapt to newer trends, and bring in a younger audience.
“Historically with tennis it tended to be a sort of top and bottom membership, so either more senior, older members and then much younger. Now the middle-aged demographic is much, much better here, so with the introduction of paddle and pickleball we’re now starting to see more 20 to 40-year-olds joining the club, and so the age range of the membership is a little broader now than it was before.”
Worsley also indulged in the growth the club has been going through, with the induction of other racket sports rather than tennis, and the impact it has had on the staff.
“Basically what started off as a big tennis club has now become a rackets club and a sports club. So the club has grown, has more facilities, it’s now managed rather than run by volunteers. So yeah, you’ve seen the business side and the facility grow over the years. I suppose with the introduction of new sports the audience has changed.” Mentioned Worsley.
The club is alway looking for new members, either people keen to learn a new sport, or someone returning to an old hobby.
“So there’s different ways to access, so you can become a member here, which is a racket member, so you get access to all of the sports as part of the membership, but we also give non-members the chance to join our coaching program, so the best way into the club is to probably do a little bit of coaching.
“Once you’ve got a feel for the place and if you like the place you could then go to the next stage, which is to join as a member. Members benefit from social and sessions for their sports, also lots of social events like quizzes and open mic nights and summer balls and things like that.”
It is a great opportunity to support a local venue and get the chance to socialize with fellow racket-sports lovers.
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