RECREATIONAL
ACTIVITY
 The
game of lawn tennis was
invented, patented and popularised
by the middle-class army major
Walter Clompton Wingfield
INFLUENTIAL PEOPLE…
 ARMY
MAJOR WALTER
CLOMPTON WINGFIELD - 1874 –
POPULARISED THE GAME OF
LAWN TENNIS. SOLD A
SIMPLIFIED VERSION OF THE
GAME.
 He did not invent it!
 Originally called ‘Sphairistike’
LAWN TENNIS WAS BOUGHT BY THE
MOST FASHIONABLE UPPER-MIDDLECLASS FAMILIES.
 IN 1877, THE ALL ENGLAND CROQUET
CLUB INTRODUCE LAWN TENNIS AT
WIMMBLEDON. TWENTY TWO
COMPETITORS TOOK PART AND THE
FINALS ATTRACTED 200 SPECTATORS.
BY 1885, 3500 SPECTATORS
WATCHED THE MEN’S FINAL.
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SUMMARY
THE MIDDLE CLASSES WERE EXCLUDED FROM REAL TENNIS
SO THEY LOOKED FOR THEIR OWN ALTERNATIVE.
GAME WAS PERFECT FOR UPPER-MIDDLE-CLASS
SUBURBAN GARDENS
IT WAS PATENTED (CONFERRED OR PROTECTED BY PATENT
TO WHICH ONE HAS PROPRIETARY CLAIM) AND BECAME
FASIONABLE, ALMOST AS A STATUS SYMBOL.
TENNIS CLUBS WERE FORMED WHICH ALLOWED THE SAME
CLASS OF PEOPLE TO MEET.
LOWER MIDDLE CLASS FREQUENTED THESE CLUBS.
WORKING CLASS HAD TO WAIT FOR PUBLIC PROVISION
WHICH DELAYED THEIR PARTICIPATION.
ITB REFLECTED THE EMERGENCE ON THE URBAN MIDDLE
CLASS.
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WOMEN IN TENNIS
LAWN TENNIS HELPED TO REMOVE SOME STEREOTYPES OF
EARLIER VICTORIAN TIMES.
ONE MAJOR REASON WHY IT BECAME SO POPULAR WAS THE
CHANGING ROLE OF THE MIDDLE-CLASS FEMALE.
INITALLY EXCLUSIVE, EARLY TOURNAMENTS WERE ASSOCIATED
WITH COUNTY CRICKET. THESE TENTED TO BE PLAYED BEHIND
CLOSED DOORS AND IT WASN’T UNTIL 1884 THAT PUBLIC
CHAMPIONSHIPS WERE HELD FOR ‘LADIES’ AT WIMBLEDON.
IT WAS A SOCIAL OCCASION AND PART OF FAMILY RECREATION.
WOMEN COULD PARTICIPATE BUT WERE EXPECTED NOT TO BE
VERY GOOD.
IT DID NOT REQUIRE SPECIAL DRESS.
SOCIAL ADVANTAGE BECAUSE IT COULD BE PLAYED BY BOTH
SEXES OR MIXED.
IT COULD BE PLAYED IN PRIVATE BECAUSE OF THE HIGH HEDGES.
Tennis today
 PARTICIPATION
IN TENNIS TODAY
 FACTORS THAT HAVE HELPED
DEVELOP TENNIS IN THE WAY OF
PARTICIPATION AND PERFORMANCE
 POSSIBLE BARRIERS