The inaugural John and Shirley Tremble Trophy round robin competition between Wentworth Falls and Katoomba tennis clubs was held on Sunday, March 11.
Eight pairs of players from each club played four game sets against each other and the scores were tallied to see the trophy housed at Katoomba until September.
It was social tennis with a competitive edge. The Katoomba Tennis Club buzzed with good cheer as members of both clubs displayed skill and panache in a day of quality tennis. The winning pair Greg Gillespie and Patrick Everingham led a tight field, with Roman Balla and Fiona Goodberg close behind, followed by trio Michael Reid, Nicole Arendt and Josephine Lamb.
The Tremble Trophy honours the contribution made to Blue Mountains tennis by Shirley and John Tremble. John Tremble first started playing tennis from the age of nine with the Kelamar Tennis Club which was located in Darley St, South Katoomba. Shirley Houston started playing tennis at the age of 15 with the Sunnyside Tennis Club in Leura. She and John met in February, 1955 at the Kelamar Club and were married in October, 1958.
Shirley and John were involved in the club’s activities until the property where the Kelamar Club was situated was sold. Along with the other remaining members of the Kelamar Club, Shirley and John joined the Wentworth Falls Tennis Club. At that time the Katoomba courts were no longer being maintained and there was no club in operation. When council installed the five hard courts at Katoomba in 1966 Shirley and John both became active members of the revived Katoomba Tennis Club as it exists today.
The five hard courts at Katoomba Tennis Club were replaced with four divided synthetic grass courts in 1993. Courts 3 and 4 were resurfaced in 2016 and courts 1 and 2 converted to championship hard courts in 2017.
As well as being stalwarts of the Blue Mountains Tennis Association and Katoomba Tennis Club, Shirley and John were a formidable mixed doubles team in A grade mixed doubles and they represented the Blue Mountains Tennis Association at Country Week held at White City Tennis Club, Sydney many times. Among his many achievements, John Tremble first won the BMTA’s A grade Men’s singles and went on to hold this title for a record 23 years.
From 1966-1986 John was tennis coach at the Katoomba Tennis Club. In 2000 he was awarded the Australian Sports Medal – for those who have made a significant contribution to their sport. He is a life member of the Blue Mountains Tennis Association and a life member of the Katoomba Tennis club where he has held the position of either president, secretary or treasurer since 1966. John has been a steady, committed, talented and inspiring force who has kept the Katoomba Tennis Club alive and flourishing.
