Sport! For most of us, the last time we played an organized sport was in High school! From there, we get all wrapped up in our careers, then our families, then our kid’s sports… Before we know it, we think we’re too old to play sport, or we don’t know where to go.

We, at Tiago’s, try our best to keep our community informed about the various resources available to get active and keep healthy in our areas! Hence the point of this blog series. So, for that purpose, we have included some local sports clubs in our Feature Friday series! Starting with the Southbroom Tennis Club!

Comfort, Loise, Doris and Rob after a mixed doubles match

Why Tennis?

Tennis is a good sport to maintain your health, fitness, strength and agility, according to Better Health Channel. Its Health Benefits include:

Besides all of that, tennis is a great way to meet new people. It is suitable for all ages and not dependent on youth or strength and you can start at any stage of your life! This you will see as we tell you a bit about the Southbroom Tennis Club!

Comfort showing some great foot work

It’s Ageless

On any given Wednesday, Saturday or Sunday you will see the Southbroom Tennis Courts full of players ranging from their teens to their seventies! In fact, the youngest member of the club is only 9 years old!

Because Tennis is a low impact sport, it causes very little strain to your muscles and joints, making it the ideal sport for older people.

For kids, tennis is an excellent lesson in concentration and endurance, hand eye coordination and balance. Tennis is also a “gentleman/woman’s” sport, governed by strict rules of conduct, teaching kid’s good sportsmanship, manners, and respect.

Ron and Georgia, who expertly executed the coin flip at the Mixed Doubles Final

It’s Cardio, Made Fun!

In the health benefits of tennis shown above, there is a heavy emphasis on resting heart rate, metabolic function, aerobic capabilities etc… But, why are these things important? What is cardiovascular exercise? Does it immediately make you think of hours on a treadmill? Why do 90% of Physical Trainers and medical professionals insist that you need to be adding this to your exercise plan?

Your cardiovascular system is an organ system that circulates blood, nutrients, oxygen, carbon dioxide and hormones around your body. This system helps your body fight diseases, stabilizes your temperature and PH, and keeps you nourished and healthy.

Cardiovascular exercise, otherwise known in the gym as Cardio, raises your heart and breathing rate, increasing the transport of oxygen around your body. It helps you burn fat and calories. It strengthens your heart so that it doesn’t have to work so hard to pump blood. It increases your lung capacity and it reduces your risk of heart attack, high cholesterol, high blood pressure, diabetes, and even some forms of cancer!

You don’t have to slog along on a treadmill for an hour to achieve this! Tennis is an excellent form of cardiovascular exercise that is so fun, it doesn’t feel like you are exercising at all!

Nicky Momberg showing us what Cardio is all about

Friendly Competition

The great thing about playing a sport like Tennis, compared to going for a run or hitting the gym, is the social aspect! Club days at the Tennis club are for Doubles games, meaning you and a partner hit the courts to play another team of two.

When you’re not on the court you are treated to tea and cake, courtesy of whoever is on tea duty that day, and are bound to make a few new friends while you sit and watch the games in progress. The clubhouse is family friendly with a jungle gym just a few meters stroll up Eyles Park!

At all times you will get a sniff and maybe even a cuddle from one of the many dogs that come down with members for an afternoons lounging in the sun.

Once the games have been played and the sun starts it’s decent, the cooler boxes come out and many of the members, family and friends can be spotted sitting late into the evening sharing a bottle of wine and comparing points and techniques from their games of the day.

Serious Sport

Once a year the club opens up entries for members only for the annual Club Champs. This is serious business with Men’s, Ladies and Mixed Doubles played first, followed by Men’s and Ladies Singles.

While competition is fierce with friendly rivalries going back years between players and some teams carrying revered reputations for being “the ones to beat”, the atmosphere is always jovial as the whole community comes out to watch these highly anticipated clashes!

This years Ladies Champs went to Renee Purtell and Mary Rawlins. Mens was taken by Claude Venter and Rolf Gudegast. Mixed was won by Nicky Momberg and Claude Venter.

All matches were nail biters and thoroughly enjoyed by the massive turnout of spectators!

From left: Ron Stirling, Nicky Momberg, Claude Venter, Renee Purtell, Mary Rawlins, Pippa Bromley-Gans and Luise Mohr

Need some practice?

If you have never played tennis before, the idea of starting a new sport may be a bit daunting. Even if you have played before, you may be a little rusty and not sure if you could hold your own on the courts straight away. Southbroom Tennis club has a resident coach who is registered with Tennis South Africa! He holds Cardio-Tennis Classes twice a week that require no past tennis experience, just lots of enthusiasm, as well as offers private coaching for any skill level! You can find him on Facebook by clicking here.

How to join

The Southbroom Tennis club is nestled between the trees just opposite the Southbroom Golf Course on Link Road. Club days are on Wednesday and Saturday from 2pm, with Social Tennis on Sunday from 2pm. Head down to the courts on any of those days and speak to any of the members and they will be happy to give you all the details about joining. If you are not sure you’re ready to make that leap yet, why not join in on a Sunday, it only costs a R30 day membership fee to play!

Is it expensive?

Absolutely not! As stated above, a day membership costs just R30 popped into their Honesty Box. If you want to become a full member the annual membership fee is R990 with a once off R100 Joining Fee when you first apply. That works out to only R82.50 a month!

If you’re looking for something a little more challenging for your fitness goals that includes cardiovascular exercise, have you tried Crossfit? We featured an awesome local coach a couple of weeks ago… check it out here!