Ridgeway Tennis Club was founded in 1922 and is a sub-section of Ridgeway Sports and Social Club which was formerly called Ridgeway Memorial Institute. This was founded after World War 1 on land left in trust to the village.
The tennis club played on grass courts that were sited behind Kent House, adjacent to the current pavilion, and continued until the Second World War when it understandably ceased to function.
It wasn’t until the early sixties that the club was revived – one all weather court at first and a second one completed in 1969. The club then entered the Sheffield and District Parks League as an Associate Club.
In 1986 the club lost the use of the courts due to the sale of Kent House. The tennis courts now form part of the gardens of Kent House which is now privately owned.
Despite the sale the club continued to function and in the next few years played variously at Hollinsend Park, Eckington School, Westfield Campus and Graves Tennis Centre before it returned to the present facilities in 1992. These are still run in Trust and are not Council owned.
The club continued competing in the Parks Leagues through the period when it was based outside Ridgeway until the Parks League finished its long history in 1998. Many of the clubs, including this one, who participated in that League have now joined the Sheffield and District League.
In 2005 applications for funding towards the cost of re-surfacing the courts, colour painting and replacement of surround fencing were successful and £15,000 was received from Viridor Waste Management and Awards for All – a lottery based grant body.
