Rynfield resident Ken Smith (77) is the president of the Gauteng Eastern Tennis Association and although now in the admin field of tennis, he is no stranger to the tennis court as a player.
“When I was four years old, living in Cape Town, there was a cluster of garages and I used to take a badminton racket and tennis ball and hit against the wall almost every day,” he explained.
“My folks were involved in tennis, so when we moved to Johannesburg they joined a club and I, six or seven at the time, would tag along, begging them after every session to hit with me.
“It was around this time that I started progressing in my tennis career as my parents could see my love for the sport had grown, so I progressed to sub-junior level.
“Then the best thing that could have happened, happened. I progressed to junior level and by the time I was 13, I was playing senior tennis in the South of Johannesburg.”
Smith grew up in the South of Johannesburg before moving to Pretoria and joining the police force, then making his way to Boksburg before officially marking his territory in the town of Benoni.
“I played my first league game for the seniors at a Commercial Tennis Club and it rained the whole of that week right before we had to play,” he explained.
“I was so upset and cross because in those days we had sand courts, so the rain really affected our chances of playing and it was unusual for it to be raining in July.
“But by the Saturday, which was game day, it cleared up. Luckily, the person who looked after the courts managed to line them.”
After playing for the seniors and showing his capability, Smith moved up to the third team but wasn’t there long as he was then poached by the first team, skipping second altogether.
“I played from 1956/57 right up to 1988 in the first league, either in Johannesburg, Pretoria or the East,” he said.
“There weren’t as many tournaments in those days as we have today, but on weekends I would come to Benoni to play a tournament or to Johannesburg, and this is what we did most weekends. If we weren’t playing league, we were playing socially and just loving the game.”
Smith frequently played for a team in Boksburg and they were unbeaten, before moving to Benoni Country Club’s team, where he won the mixed league and men’s league once and placed as runner-up in quite a few leagues as well.
“The best result I ever received was in 1965 when I played Tom Okker,” he explained.
Okker is a Dutch former tennis player who was active from the mid-1960s until 1980.
He won the 1973 French Open doubles, the 1976 US Open doubles and two gold medals at the 1965 Maccabiah Games.
“I played Okker and beat him. The very next year he got into the final at Wimbledon, which just goes to show his talent.
“Prior to this, in 1964, I played Roy Emerson (an Australian former tennis player who won 12 Grand Slam singles titles and 16 Grand Slam doubles titles), who was Wimbledon champion at the time. I lost against him so badly. I was so tired by the third set, but it was such an honour to play the guy.
“Some of the tops guys like these two would play against us. Sometimes we won, sometimes we lost, but each time they would stay for a drink and spend time with us. We were like a little family. That is what made the game so enjoyable.”
On a provincial level, Smith racked up his achievements that he is still proud of today.
• Won numerous singles around the country.
• Made the semi-final for SA Junior Champs twice.
• Won mixed and doubles junior titles.
• When playing for the Southern Transvaal, they were unbeaten as juniors.
• Played for Gauteng North (Northern Transvaal) senior interprovincial side and drew with Natal in Pietermaritzburg.
• Played inter-provincial in Pretoria and won.
While being a player, his admin career within the sport started to pick up as this juggler began as assistant secretary of the league at the Benoni Country Club.
“I wasn’t going on circuits anymore but did represent the province,” he said.
“I also had my family, did coaching, played tennis, ran my own businesses, so I really juggled most of my sport, work and family throughout my life.”
He then joined the committee before eventually receiving the chairperson title of the club on two occasions.
“I coached full time from 1970 to 1973 and still played right up to 1988,” he said.
“I stopped playing tennis because I wanted to be a family man. I also had my sports shop that needed attention and to go anywhere in your tennis career you needed to go overseas and finances were a problem.
“I still coached on a part-time basis right up until the end of last year. Now I do all the shouting and the supervising,” he chuckled.
But becoming the president was never his goal.
“Being an amateur, you don’t expect remuneration for that position, so you want to impart your knowledge onto others to grow them. I didn’t want to be too involved, I was on the committee but I wanted to teach and coach,” he said.
“I left in 1988 when I stopped playing but was representing the coaches on the Eastern Transvaal.
“The president at the time was my friend and he said he had enough and wanted to retire, so he offered the position to me. So in 1999 I became the president. I said I would only participate for a year even though when you’re elected you reign for two years, but here I am,” he laughed.
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