Title
Hilary Casey Oral History Summary
Subject
Hilary Casey
Description
Summary of an Oral History Recording with interviewee Hilary Casey
Creator
Michael Romyn
Publisher
Kent's Sporting Memories
Date
24 May, 2019
Contributor
Hilary Casey; Michael Romyn
Rights
Kent's Sporting Memories
Relation
Hilary Casey Oral History Recording
Format
Microsoft Word Document
Language
English
Type
Typed Summary
Identifier
Hilary Casey
Text
Kent’s Sporting Memories Oral History Summary
Interviewee: Hilary Casey
Interviewer: Michael Romyn
Date: 3 May, 2019
Location: Hythe Lawn Tennis Club, Hythe, Kent
0:00 Place and date of birth; the various places Hilary has lived, Hythe and Folkestone predominantly.
0:53 Her dislike of sport as a child – ‘I absolutely hated sport’ – but how she eventually came to play sport, including tennis, at the convent school in Hythe when she was eleven.
1:49 Her love of skiing and the centrality of skiing to her family; her job as a ski instructor at the newly-opened Folkestone Sports Centre in 1972; her involvement in the establishment of the Alpine Ski Centre in Chatham; playing badminton and her return to tennis as an adult.
4:00 Hilary’s involvement with skiing; working as a ski instructor in the UK and then in Austria, from which she commuted back to the UK to be with her young family; her children’s many accomplishments in skiing.
6:25 The opening of Folkestone Sports Centre in September 1972; the opening ceremony and teething problems with the dry ski slope – the first in the region; how the slope was built with soil excavated from the centre’s swimming pool; how the slope nurtured local skiing talent in the area, including British champions; its eventual eclipse by larger slopes.
9:50 The establishment of summer holiday courses for children at Folkestone Sports Centre – ‘it was unheard of then’ – and their utility to parents; how skiing was made accessible to everyone; the importance of the sports centre to Folkestone, both for sport and as a social hub; holding ‘life-membership’ at the club (£12,000 over ten years).
15:15 Hilary explains what existed in terms of sports facilities in Folkestone before the sports centre was built, including a swimming pool and various clubs dotted around; the sports centre innovative as a multi-use facility; taking up and playing badminton at the centre and for Kent as a veteran.
17:30 The popularity of badminton at Folkestone Sports Centre and in Folkestone generally in the 1970s; reasons for its waning popularity.
19:40 Moving to Hythe and joining Hythe Lawn Tennis Club in 1982, where she soon became a committee member; removing the last four grass courts (because of their expense) and installing floodlights while serving as chair in 2013.
22:25 Hilary describes the club of thirty years ago - a smaller car park, a preponderance of grass courts and far fewer members; how the installation of more hard courts pushed up membership numbers; the emotional day on which the old pavilion was flattened to make way for a new one – ‘it was the end of an era’ – in 2009.
27:15 Raising money for the hard courts and the new pavilion, which included borrowing from the LTA and funding from Sport England; Hilary’s dealings and dogged perseverance with the LTA in pursuit of funding.
33:10 Celebrating the opening of the new courts over a weekend in 2013, with guest Judy Murray; Judy Murray’s support of the club.
34:25 Being invited by Judy Murray to sit in the Royal Box at Wimbledon in 2018; the difficulties of acquiring funding and working with the LTA.
40:35 On playing at Hythe, and her reduced participation due to ankle surgery; the social side of the club and its ongoing popularity; the lack of a social scene when she first arrived at the club – ‘it was very cliquey’ – and the steps taken to reduce this.
44:35 The club’s picturesque setting; being the longest standing member at the club;
47:00 Playing against a young Abigail Tordoff – Hythe’s most recognized player - in the club championship; Tordoff’s subsequent rise to junior Wimbledon and professional status; Tordoff’s post-playing career.
51:20 Club trips to tennis tournaments and the allocation to tickets; her experience of visiting Wimbledon and sitting in the Royal Box.
55:30 Being named LTA Volunteer of the Year for Kent in 2017 and National LTA Volunteer of the Year in 2017; the difficulty of running a small tennis club with only volunteers, and competing against larger clubs; the club being named LTA Club of the Year for Kent in 2014, and being handed a civic award by Hythe in 2009 following the completion of the pavilion: ‘It’s nice when people actually recognize that you’ve got something right.’
1:01:55 Considering removing the grass courts as her greatest achievement; Hilary describes the whole club event surrounding the digging up of the remaining grass courts in 2013.
Interviewee: Hilary Casey
Interviewer: Michael Romyn
Date: 3 May, 2019
Location: Hythe Lawn Tennis Club, Hythe, Kent
0:00 Place and date of birth; the various places Hilary has lived, Hythe and Folkestone predominantly.
0:53 Her dislike of sport as a child – ‘I absolutely hated sport’ – but how she eventually came to play sport, including tennis, at the convent school in Hythe when she was eleven.
1:49 Her love of skiing and the centrality of skiing to her family; her job as a ski instructor at the newly-opened Folkestone Sports Centre in 1972; her involvement in the establishment of the Alpine Ski Centre in Chatham; playing badminton and her return to tennis as an adult.
4:00 Hilary’s involvement with skiing; working as a ski instructor in the UK and then in Austria, from which she commuted back to the UK to be with her young family; her children’s many accomplishments in skiing.
6:25 The opening of Folkestone Sports Centre in September 1972; the opening ceremony and teething problems with the dry ski slope – the first in the region; how the slope was built with soil excavated from the centre’s swimming pool; how the slope nurtured local skiing talent in the area, including British champions; its eventual eclipse by larger slopes.
9:50 The establishment of summer holiday courses for children at Folkestone Sports Centre – ‘it was unheard of then’ – and their utility to parents; how skiing was made accessible to everyone; the importance of the sports centre to Folkestone, both for sport and as a social hub; holding ‘life-membership’ at the club (£12,000 over ten years).
15:15 Hilary explains what existed in terms of sports facilities in Folkestone before the sports centre was built, including a swimming pool and various clubs dotted around; the sports centre innovative as a multi-use facility; taking up and playing badminton at the centre and for Kent as a veteran.
17:30 The popularity of badminton at Folkestone Sports Centre and in Folkestone generally in the 1970s; reasons for its waning popularity.
19:40 Moving to Hythe and joining Hythe Lawn Tennis Club in 1982, where she soon became a committee member; removing the last four grass courts (because of their expense) and installing floodlights while serving as chair in 2013.
22:25 Hilary describes the club of thirty years ago - a smaller car park, a preponderance of grass courts and far fewer members; how the installation of more hard courts pushed up membership numbers; the emotional day on which the old pavilion was flattened to make way for a new one – ‘it was the end of an era’ – in 2009.
27:15 Raising money for the hard courts and the new pavilion, which included borrowing from the LTA and funding from Sport England; Hilary’s dealings and dogged perseverance with the LTA in pursuit of funding.
33:10 Celebrating the opening of the new courts over a weekend in 2013, with guest Judy Murray; Judy Murray’s support of the club.
34:25 Being invited by Judy Murray to sit in the Royal Box at Wimbledon in 2018; the difficulties of acquiring funding and working with the LTA.
40:35 On playing at Hythe, and her reduced participation due to ankle surgery; the social side of the club and its ongoing popularity; the lack of a social scene when she first arrived at the club – ‘it was very cliquey’ – and the steps taken to reduce this.
44:35 The club’s picturesque setting; being the longest standing member at the club;
47:00 Playing against a young Abigail Tordoff – Hythe’s most recognized player - in the club championship; Tordoff’s subsequent rise to junior Wimbledon and professional status; Tordoff’s post-playing career.
51:20 Club trips to tennis tournaments and the allocation to tickets; her experience of visiting Wimbledon and sitting in the Royal Box.
55:30 Being named LTA Volunteer of the Year for Kent in 2017 and National LTA Volunteer of the Year in 2017; the difficulty of running a small tennis club with only volunteers, and competing against larger clubs; the club being named LTA Club of the Year for Kent in 2014, and being handed a civic award by Hythe in 2009 following the completion of the pavilion: ‘It’s nice when people actually recognize that you’ve got something right.’
1:01:55 Considering removing the grass courts as her greatest achievement; Hilary describes the whole club event surrounding the digging up of the remaining grass courts in 2013.