Why We Started the Foundation
The Australian Davis Cup Tennis Foundation was formed in Melbourne as a Company limited by guarantee in 1971 by a small group of prominent tennis enthusiasts following a meeting with the then President of Tennis Australia. During that meeting, the President expressed his concern for the parlous financial position of Tennis Australia, saying that he could foresee it soon experiencing grave difficulty in meeting the financial needs of our Davis Cup teams playing overseas.
He emphasised his conviction that there was a desperate need for an independent and self-funding support group, comprised of members of tennis clubs throughout Australia, to establish a vehicle through which to raise funds to assist Tennis Australia meet the spiralling costs of team travel, accommodation and the introduction of player development programmes to improve our team’s on-court performances throughout the following decades.
The challenge was accepted and these needs immediately became the fundamental purposes of the new Foundation. Tennis enthusiasts from around Australia responded magnificently to the call for support by annually subscribing for ‘membership’. In return, each new member received a distinctive tie (males) or scarf (females) and an occasional
Newsletter but otherwise, there was very little in the way of tangible benefits that could be provided.
The advent of the Foundation helped to turn the tide and as the financial fortunes of Tennis Australia slowly improved, it became the Foundation’s policy to also commit funds to Tennis Australia for the identification and development of young Australians who displayed early potential for development as our future Davis Cup representatives.
Initially, we had only the income generated by membership subscriptions from which to assist Tennis Australia. With membership growth, we have been able to gradually increase our own cash reserves to the extent that we are today able to supplement this income with interest earned on our investments as well as with profits generated from occasional members’ functions.
