Welcome to the International Lawn Tennis Club of New Zealand
"Hands across the net, friendship across the ocean "


Welcome to the IC of New Zealand

The IC of New Zealand was formed in 1956 and has around 150 members in New Zealand and around 50 living overseas.

Ron McKenzie and Jeffrey Robson inspired the formation of our Club after they had been made Honorary Overseas Members by the IC of Great Britain. Jeff was our Patron from 1994 until he died in 2022 aged 93 and always took a very active part in our activities.

At our May 2023 AGM we appointed another long-time member Sir Colin Maiden as our Patron. Sadly Sir Colin passed away in July 2024. We are now delighted to announce that Chris Lewis, a well known member and former Wimbledon finalist has agreed to become our Patron.

ICNZ was very pleased to send 2 teams to help celebrate the centenary of the foundation of the original International Club in Great Britain in 1924.

The revolving photos above reflect some of the team. To read more click on the August 2024 Newsletter on the Noticeboard as this is entirely a report of the IC Week held on the Wimbledon grass courts.

Some of the names of former or current International players who are members include:

Lan Bale, John A Barry, Dr Peter Becroft, Jill Bignell, Beverley (Vercoe) Billington, Martin Colenbrander, Marcus Daniell, Gilles de Gouy,      Bruce Derlin, Malcolm Elley, Marina Erakovic, Raewyn (Dickson) Ferkins, Patsy (Belton) Fleming, James Greenhalgh, Peter Hampton, Brett Hibbert, Alistair Hunt, Grantley Judge, Betty (Bryant) Kay, Robin Legge-Hunt, Dan King-Turner, David Lewis, Mark Lewis, Andrew Lobb, John Lockington, Greg Long, Justin Mackenzie, Cecilie (Fleming) McIntyre, John Mills, Ethne (Green) Mitchell, Dame Ruia Morrison, David Mustard, Mark Neilson, Linda (Stewart) Nightingale, Pavlina Nola , Elizabeth (Terry) Odgers, Onny Parun, Tony Parun, Danny Parun, Brenda Perry, Marilyn Pryde-Lawrence, Erin Routliffe, Ruth Seeman, Philip Seemann, Des Shaw, James Shortall, Jeffrey Simpson, Artem Sitak, Gary Slater, Elaine (Becroft) Stephan, Brett Steven, Judy (Burke) Tinnock, Claudine Toleafoa, Andrew Turner, Michael Venus, Marcel Vos, Wesley Whitehouse, Dan Willman, Kevin Woolcott, Brian Woolf.

Overseas based Anton Bettink, Howard Broun, Robert Clarke, Ian Crookenden,James Dunphy, Ron Dutton, Kelly Evernden, Pauline (Elliott) Hanson, Lew Gerrard, Jeremy Grubi, Steve Guy, Robyn Legge-Hunt, Chris Lewis, Mark Long, Julie Richardson, Russell Simpson, Oliver Statham, Rubin Statham, Paul Smith, Stephen Temple.

Touring Players. We also have a group of younger players who are actively playing on various circuits. At the Paris Olympics Erin Routliffe and Lulu Sun represented NZ.

The IC of New Zealand is active in organising a number of events and matches for both junior and senior members.

The NZ Funds Trans-Tasman Trophy event for junior players (16 & under) was competed for annually with Australia, on a home and away basis. This led to the wider zone eliminations.

In 2008 the World Final of the first Compass IC Junior Challenge event washeld very successfully in Auckland. This has now grown each year with the elimination matches being played every second year, with the final the following one. The 2013-4 Finals were played at Wimbledon, the 2015-6 at Monaco and the 2017-18 in Japan. 2022 was held in San Diego and November 2023 in La Jolla USA. This is now called the Rod Laver Junior Challenge.

Morning Tea functions at the ATP & WTA tournaments in Auckland each January, for members and overseas players.The worldwide Covid-19 pandemic led to the cancellation of the two International Tournaments for the 2nd year in January 2022 but we were thrilled to be back in action again in January 2023 and 2024.

60th Anniversary Weekend. In late August 2016 we held a wonderful celebration, with tennis, golf and a special Dinner. Around 120 members and partners came from around New Zealand and overseas for this. Special guests included Lew Gerrard and Ian Crookenden, two well-known NZ Davis Cup Players. Our Patron, Jeff Robson MBE was honoured with Life membership of ICNZ, a very well deserved honour. Since then Life Membership has been awarded to Des Shaw and Brian Woolf in 2019 and Jill Bignell in May 2023.The most recent was Cecilie McIntyre in 2024 after 5 years as President and 25 years on the committee. She has now edited 100 of the occasional Newsletter which can be opened on the Noticeboard.

In October 2019 we resumed our matches with the Australian IC when a NZ team of 10 members with supporters travelled to the Gold Coast for a very successful weekend of friendly rivalry. NZ won the matches 8/3 therefore becoming the first holders of the Sedgman-Tills Trophy. It was a great pleasure to have Frank Sedgman and his wife there for the weekend, and also on the Saturday evening to meet Ken Rosewall and his (now late) wife Wilma.We thank ICA President Kerryn Pratt and her committee for making us very welcome.

After a Covid postponement in March 2022, we played another match with the Australian IC in Wanaka, in the South Island in March 2023 which although smaller was well contested and NZ retained the Sedgman-Tills Trophy. See the Noticeboard for our newsletters covering this and other events.

IC Council News

June 2026
Launch of the ITF and IC Player Mentoring Programme

Launch of the ITF and IC Player Mentoring Programme

The IC Council is proud to announce the launch of the ITF and IC Player Mentoring Programme, in partnership with Give Learn. This unique initiative is designed to support players as they navigate the demands of professional tennis and plan for life beyond the game.

The programme will offer players on the ITF tours the opportunity to be matched with an experienced mentor from the worlds of finance, technology, entrepreneurship and beyond — someone who can offer guidance, perspective and a genuine connection outside of tennis.

Over the course of twelve months, participants will receive eight one-to-one sessions with their mentor alongside four group workshops covering topics such as building your personal brand on LinkedIn, starting a business while competing, financial planning, and preparing for a career after tennis.

Whether a player is thinking about their next chapter or simply wants to grow beyond the court, this programme could be for them.

Players can apply by logging in to the ITF website at itftennis.com using their IPIN. The deadline for 2026 applications is 30 June 2026.

For more information, click here to read more about the programme or contact player.care@itftennis.com with any queries.

Become a programme mentor

Our global IC community is full of individuals who have built successful careers in a wide range of fields and may have valuable experience to offer participants on the ITF and IC Player Mentoring Programme as mentors.

In particular, we’d like to hear from IC members who have:

  • Industry expertise — a recognised leader or specialist in their field with a track record that players can learn from and credibility that commands respect
  • Genuine desire to give back — motivated by impact rather than profile, someone who sees mentoring as a privilege not a transaction
  • Time availability — senior enough to be valuable, but not so stretched they can't show up consistently for a monthly session
  • Cross-cultural awareness — comfortable working with young athletes from diverse backgrounds and nationalities, many of whom are navigating life outside their home country
  • Commercial or entrepreneurial experience — able to help players think about life beyond sport, from brand building and investments to business foundations and financial literacy
  • Emotional intelligence — understands the unique pressures of elite sport, can listen as well as advise, and knows the difference between coaching and mentoring.

If this sounds like you and you would like to be considered to become a programme mentor, please contact James Cluskey from Give Learn at j.cluskey@givelearn.net. James is a member of the IC of Ireland – you can read more about his tennis and IC background here.

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Contact

Our Honorary Secretary is Angela Hart
Telephone: + 6421 168 5148 

 email:secretary.icnz56@gmail.com

 

Upcoming Events

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