The Galle Services Club is a social and sports club in Galle, Sri Lanka, which was established in 1947. The club replaced the Galle Gymkhana Lawn Tennis Club, which was originally established in 1885 as the Galle Gymkhana Club.
.jpg) Galle Services Club (January 2013) | |
  Galle Services Club Location within Sri Lanka | |
| Former names | Galle Gymkhana Club (1885) Galle Gymkhana Lawn Tennis Club Galle Tennis Club |
|---|---|
| Address | 2 Rampart Street |
| Location | Galle, Sri Lanka |
| Coordinates | 6°01′47.8″N 80°12′56.6″E / 6.029944°N 80.215722°E |
| Genre(s) | Sporting and Social Club |
| Field shape | Rectangular |
| Surface | Hardcourt |
| Construction | |
| Opened | 1947 |
| Renovated | 2021 |
| Website | |
| www | |
History
editIn 1876 a racecourse was established on the Galle Esplanade.[1][2]
In 1885 the Galle Gymkhana Club was established,[3][4] and its first secretary was Charles Pickering Hayley (1848–1934), co-founder of the firm Hayley and Kenney (now known as Hayleys PLC Ltd). The club was initially limited to European residents, but with the increasing popularity of horse racing, membership was expanded to include Ceylonese.
The Galle Gymkhana Club was permitted, on nominal terms, to construct a tennis pavilion on grounds, within Galle fort, belonging to the municipality. In 1920 an island-wide open tennis tournament for which the best players from Colombo and elsewhere were able to enter, became a regular annual feature on the race and sports program of the Galle Gymkhana Club.[5]
In 1922 the club shifted its horse racing to the Manning racecourse, a 40 ha (100 acres) freehold site, at Boossa,[6] 8.0 km (5 mi) north of Galle, with stabling for 250 race horses.[3] The clubhouse however remained in its original location, within Galle fort.
The club was later renamed to Galle Gymkhana Lawn Tennis Club.
In 1956 the government banned gambling and betting in the country,[7] which resulted in the subsequent closure of the Manning racecourse. The racecourse has since been converted into a children's playground, opened by the Lions Club of Galle and named after Mahendran Amarasooriya.
In 2021 all four of the courts at the club were refurbished and made hardcourts. This, however, occurred with some controversy, with allegations that the club contravened local traffic laws, prohibiting heavy vehicles entering into the heritage Galle fort area.[8] On 19 February the refurbished courts were formally opened by Dr. Ramesh Pathirana (member for Galle) the president of the Galle Service Club, Dr Daminda Mandawala, and the president of the Sri Lanka Tennis Association, Iqbal Bin Issack.
Further reading
edit- Sri Lanka Tennis Association (1990). D. Lam Seneviratne (ed.). 75 years of the Sri Lankan Tennis Association: 1915-1990. New Lankan Printers.
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ "Galle International Cricket Stadium".
- ^ Jasentuliyana, Nandasiri (2016). Same Sky, Different Nights. Author House. ISBN 9781524600419.
- ^ a b Ferguson's Ceylon Directory. Associated Newspapers of Ceylon Limited. 1962. p. 1153.
- ^ "Historical glance at Galle". The Island. 20 November 2020. Retrieved 12 August 2024.
- ^ Sri Lanka. Minindōru Depārtamēntuva (1950). Brohier, Richard Leslie (ed.). Land, Maps & Surveys. Vol. 1–2. Ceylon Government Press. p. 97.
- ^ Ceylon Today. Vol. 8. Ceylon Government Information Department. 1959. p. 27.
- ^ "Don't Ban Races: Mammoth Petition To Kotelawala". Indian Daily Mail. 16 October 1955. p. 4.
- ^ Liyanage, Mahinda P. (10 November 2020). "Galle tennis club allegedly flouts traffic laws". The Daily News. Retrieved 7 November 2024.