The IC of South Africa host the Nations Cup and Legends Awards Dinner

The IC of South Africa hosted the Nations Cup and Legend Awards Dinner from 18-23 March 2026.

Nations Cup – Three Days of International Tennis

The Nations Cup was contested over three days of highly competitive and engaging tennis hosted at Kelvin Grove Tennis Club. The event brought together international teams in a format that balanced competitive intensity with the core IC values of sportsmanship, camaraderie, and friendship. In addition, guests were given a free day to arrange their own excursions.

Day 1 – Arrival and Welcome

The opening function set the tone for the tournament, with players having arrived from various parts of the globe. The Welcome Dinner was held at Kelvin Grove, providing an opportunity for players and officials to connect in a relaxed environment, renewing old and making new friendships, reinforcing the values that underpin IC events.

Day 2 – Opening Matches

Teams began engaging in well-contested matches. The standard of play was consistently high, with several closely fought encounters that highlighted both the depth of talent and the competitive pride of each nation. At the end of the day, the Nations tie was won by South Africa who edged out GB. Two other mixed regional teams completed the group.

Day 3 – Day at Leisure

This was a free day with guests able to plan their own excursions.

A highlight of the day was the evening cruise, which provided a unique and memorable setting for social interaction. Against the backdrop of Cape Town’s coastline, participants were able to unwind, connect, and celebrate the shared experience of international tennis. The cruise was widely regarded as a standout feature of the event. The return to the harbour and its twinkling lights with dancing on deck to the strains of Johnny Clegg and other African tunes, was a lovely ending to the event (the outward leg in choppy seas notwithstanding!!). 

Day 4 – The programme continues

The second day of competition featured a full schedule of matches across all participating teams. The level of competition intensified, with decisive results beginning to shape the standings. Off the court, the atmosphere remained vibrant and inclusive, with players supporting one another and sharing in the experience beyond the matches themselves.

Day 5 – Final Matches and Closing Ceremony

The final day of the Nations Cup brought the tournament to an exciting conclusion, as the remaining round robin matches were played. With everything still to play for, the level of tennis remained high throughout the morning. Close matches, competitive rallies, and strong team performances defined the final rounds, with results ultimately decided by fine margins.

The closing prizegiving marked a fitting conclusion to the Nations Cup. IC South Africa had the honour of awarding honorary membership to Louise Field (New Zealand), Peter Harding and Karen Cass (GB) and Pam Rosenbaum (Canada). In addition, Duard Botha was awarded honorary membership of IC Great Britain, reflecting the strong international ties fostered during the event. The formalities were followed by a relaxed pizza farewell, allowing participants to conclude the tournament in a warm and informal setting.

Legends Dinner – A Celebration of Excellence

The Legends Dinner, held at Grand Africa Café & Beach, was undoubtedly one of the defining highlights of the week. Set under the evening sky, with the ocean as a backdrop to dancing on the sand, the event created a unique and memorable atmosphere befitting the occasion. Dinner on the Deck was served buffet style and proved to be a sumptuous affair. From oysters to salmon and fillet accompanied by vegetables and salads, it was an outstanding experience.

The evening celebrated the rich legacy of South African tennis, with:

• 13 new Legends inducted
• 6 Lifetime Achievement Awards presented
• 6 Masters World Champions recognised.

Each recognition was a testament to the enduring impact of individuals who have shaped the sport at national and international levels.

The IC of South Africa were particularly privileged to host Brigitte Cuypers-Fourie and JL de Jager, both crowned Legends in 2023. Their presence added further prestige to the evening and served as a powerful reminder of the excellence and tradition that define South African tennis.

The event successfully combined formality with celebration, creating an environment that honoured past achievements while inspiring future generations. The feedback received from attendees has been overwhelmingly positive, with many noting the setting and organisation as truly world-class.

Further Details

• Venue
  The historic Kelvin Grove Country Club proved to be the ideal venue for the Nations Cup Tournament hosted by the International Club of South Africa (IC SA) in March 2026. The Club’s beautiful grounds feature the grand old historical clubhouse, 2 restaurants, bar, coffee shop and swimming pool. 
• Teams
  Originally meant to be a gathering of 4 Nations, it soon transpired that clubs were having difficulty fielding full teams and the event became an open competition. Representatives from the US, Canada, Great Britain, Luxembourg, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa found themselves playing for the Ellies, the Pumbas, the Daisies and others. In total, some 40 players had the opportunity to participate in the competition.

Format

• Day 1: 4 teams of 8 competing as  countries or regions. Won by SA with GB second.
• Days 2 and 3: 8 teams of 4. Ladies, Men’s and Mixed Doubles.

Entertainment/Functions

• Welcome function and dinner
• Sunset cruise
• The Legends Dinner and Awards
• The prize-giving and pizza evening.

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Increasing the "value add" of the USIC

Taking Advantage of a Challenging Time - Increasing the Value Add Proposition for USIC Members

The International Tennis Club of the USA (‘USIC") has utilized the downtime created by Covid to strengthen its operations and improve its "value add" proposition, so that when we fully emerge out of the Pandemic, it does so as a stronger organization. With over 500 members and a sprawling geographic reach, the USIC faces challenges maintaining membership engagement and annual dues payments even absent the restrictive conditions we have all been operating under since March 2019. As the Pandemic took hold and disrupted the tennis world, the USIC Board of Directors began to strengthen its operating Committees by increasing their size and changing their focus. For example, the Membership Committee tackled the issues of criteria for membership, candidate assessment, attracting younger members and responding to the internal demographics - age, gender and geographic locations. We also launched a mentoring effort built off of Australia’s "Beyond the Tour" initiative as a way of assisting players at the end of their tour playing days and hopefully attracting them to join the USIC.

The Captains reviewed and restated the criteria for selecting individual match captains, budgeting, team selection and creating more playing opportunities. We formed a Communications/Website Committee to improve the outreach to members by better utilizing our website for content and accessibility of information related to activities of the USIC and broader IC Community. One of our members, Joel Drucker, conducted an interview with Chris Everthttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZOXpuuOwEn8 that was accessed through our website and we have plans for future interviews, roundtable discussions etc. to bring novel discussion of tennis topics of interest to our members. Also, improving our communication of what the IC Council and fellow IC Clubs are doing increases the pride and satisfaction of being part of the IC Community as members learn about the Jean Borotra Award, Philanthropy initiatives, and our seat at the table with the ITF and other major tennis governing bodies addressing major issues impacting our sport.

Overriding all our discussions has been the "value add" proposition that would attract new members while retaining active and dues paying members. The overwhelming conclusion was to prioritize increasing the playing opportunities available to all age groups and playing levels within our USIC. By continuing to participate in IC Council Events, adding "USIC Days at Tour Events"- (Delray Beach, Miami Open, Indian Wells to name a few), "Come and Play" at prestigious clubs and tour venues, creating inter/intra regional competition within the USIC, maintaining our existing "Cup" matches with Canada, Mexico, Great Britain and France, and adding international "friendly" matches, our expectations are to provide a minimum of 20-25 playing opportunities in any 12 month calendar period. Also, we are encouraging our members to reach out to fellow members in their area for informal hitting and lunch/dinner engagements. We have already held two "Come and Play " events at the Fitzgerald Tennis Center in Washington DC, home of the Citi Open. Not only did our members get to play on the stadium courts but we were able to raise money at the event and present a sizeable check to the Washington Tennis and Education Foundation.

Other initiatives to enhance the USIC membership experience include increasing the number of tennis facilities to provide reciprocal privileges to our members, Service Awards for recognizing our members impact on the USIC, discounts for tennis equipment and apparel as well as logo offerings, and improving our relationships with the national and regional tennis governing bodies in the US. We are also working on ways to facilitate "match making" for our members here and abroad as well as streamlining a procedure for welcoming travellers to the US from other IC’s.

While we have been working steadily on these and other initiatives to improve the USIC experience for our members, we are actively preparing to host many IC participants at our IC Week scheduled for August 21-26, 2022 to celebrate our USIC’s 90th Anniversary. We are also planning to host the IC Rod Laver Junior Challenge Worldwide Finals at the La Jolla Beach and Tennis Club in California in November, 2023 that had been postponed from November, 2021.

Our Challenge remains to not only grow and strengthen our USIC but to assist in any way to make sure the IC Community through all its member IC’s remains strong and viable. We encourage all IC’s to go through the deliberate restorative process that we have gone through in the US as changing conditions in our sport, the ability to hold international competition and the operational challenges of maintaining a viable IC have made such a re-examination a necessity if the IC Community is going to continue to offer its members the unique and enduring tennis experience it has done for so many decades.

Don Tansey
President
USIC