Women in Tennis: Ros Clark Succeeds Jamie Turner as Hyde President
As women continue to make a strong mark in Real Tennis, Ros Clark is appointed the first female President of The Hyde.
Women’s importance in the game of Real Tennis continues to grow, with the latest good news being that Hyde Real Tennis Club has appointed its first female President. Ros Clark has taken over the role following Jamie Turner’s decision to hand over the reins.
Clark’s history with the club includes the positions of Fixtures Secretary, Safeguarding Officer, various roles on the committee, Trustee when the club got its charitable status, and more recently, a Grounds and Premises position.
“Ros has been a long serving trustee and incredibly loyal and active member of the club and is the perfect successor to Jamie,” shared Hyde’s Chairman of Trustees, Philip Thicknesse, in a letter to club members. “Ros has very kindly offered to continue to act as our Safeguarding and Child Protection officer but will stand down as a Trustee of the charity. She has been responsible for the building and grounds… Under her watchful eye, the grounds have never looked better and I thank her for all her excellent work.”
Clark originally discovered Real Tennis while living in the United States many years ago and joined Hyde upon her return to England. She has since played on nearly every court in the U.K. and tells the T&RA that she is thrilled to be given the chance to influence the future of the game and help grow female participation.
“I first saw and immediately fell in with the game of Real Tennis whilst living in Washington DC, joining Prince’s Court over 20 years ago,” she shares. “Whilst in the States my husband and I spent time visiting and playing in tournaments and matches in almost all of the courts in the U.S. When we eventually returned to the UK we realised how lucky we were to have the beautiful Hyde court on our doorstep.
I am now honoured to have been nominated to become the first female president of The Hyde Club. I am extremely keen to entice more women into the game that has given me such great pleasure and hope that the women's Tennis group that has been started will continue to grow and flourish. In addition, I want to appeal and attract more youngsters into the game. We have a good reputation at the Hyde for high standard U18s and I am very keen that this should continue, it will help us to secure the future of the game.”
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Clark’s appointment brings the total of female Real Tennis club presidents to two, as Victoria Harvey currently serves as the President of the Cambridge University Real Tennis Club (CURTC). And the news comes during a momentous time for women in the game: the T&RA incorporated the Women’s British Open into the British Open event in November; Claire Fahey recently won a record-breaking 50th Open title, which ties her with her husband, Rob Fahey, as the most prolific Open title holder in the sport’s history; and Michael Garnett's Ladies on Court -- the first book detailing the history of women in Real Tennis -- is set to be published later this summer.
