Vince Honoured with Life Membership at Black Rock Tennis Club
BRTA is pleased to announce that long-time BRTA Committee member and night tennis convenor Vince Vaughan was awarded Life Membership of Black Rock Tennis Club last month. Also inducted as a life member was Jon Halford who served on the Southern Districts committee prior to the merge that created BRTA in 2000.
Vince has been a member of Black Rock since 1987 and has a long history of servitude in any number of areas spanning well over 30 years. At a formal level he has been on the tennis committee as a general fixture since the late 80s, tennis president from 1990- 1992 (2 years) and tennis secretary 2013-217 (4 years. He was elevated as a board member from 2010 – 2018 (8 years) and the club’s incumbent board president from 2019 until he was unable to continue due to health issues.
In the broader Bayside community,
he has managed the Tuesday night tennis competitions from 2005 – 2020 (15 years). The Tuesday night tennis competition has been an enormous success in bringing new members and revenue into the Association and Black Rock Tennis Club.
Vince has performed these roles with passion and distinction.
Vince has also provided countless hours behind the bar and has provided and maintained the bar software system and been instrumental in technology-related aspects of running the club including the various token systems. He has run many a successful trivia night (and navigated the inevitable dissent on some of his more ‘science’ based questions through sheer force of his positive personality). He has played a key role in getting the grass courts up and running and spent many an hour mowing and caring for the courts (and it is a pleasure today to see strong usage these courts now attract as the legacy of this work).
Vince is also a keen tennis player where he has risen above himself to claim the club champs – on two occasions! – in 1989 and 1992. Unfortunately, a pennant win has just eluded him coming runner up in grade 7 in 2000 and in 2001, though he has had numerous wins in bayside and night tennis and even a few big wins at regional tennis tournaments. It is always a great joy to play with Vince and bask in the comradery he instils on the court. Though his drop shot could be improved and his tennis outfits could fit a bit better we wouldn’t really want to change anything.
Having said all of the above, the thing that sets Vince apart is his charisma, he is the face of Black Rock and people want to be at the club because of the welcoming environment he creates. He has been instrumental in making Black Rock the destination site that it is and has played a large part in shaping both the clubs and BRTA’s DNA.
