BILL Cosgrave still remembers the first time he stepped onto a tennis court at the age of 11.
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Sixty-three years later and his love for the game burns as strong as ever.
Cosgrave, now the greenkeeper for the Mount Prospect Tennis Association, was awarded the prestigious Tennis Victoria 2015 Country Community Champion Award on Thursday – the highest volunteer award for tennis in the state.
It follows a lifelong commitment to Mount Prospect and a love for the tennis association that has pumped through his blood from a young age.
His father Arthur was one of the drivers behind establishing the Creswick courts in 1966, as opposed to teams travelling around the district to play each week.
Now, Cosgrave, a life member of the Mount Prospect Tennis Association, has been recognised for his own lifetime of dedication.
“When I was told I had won the award, there was probably half an hour where I couldn’t speak properly,” he said.
“I was in that much shock, I got very emotional about the thing.”
Cosgrave spends far more time on the ride-on mower and behind the line marker than he does with the racquet in hand nowadays, but the 74-year-old says he simply cannot be lured away from the game.
He has converted to bowls at Smeaton Bowling Club, but his true passion still lies with tennis.
“I’ve gotten into bowls, but I can’t seem to break away from tennis – not that I want to,” Cosgrave said.
“I still love it as much as the first time I hit the court. At 74, I probably shouldn’t be spending hours on the court walking up and down the lines, but I think it helps keep me young.
“Especially doing it at the courts in Creswick, it’s such a great place and it’s so relaxing.”
The 29 courts at Creswick (16 of them grass) have almost been an obsession for Cosgrave.
He was president of the association for 15 years – including the time when the grass courts were installed in 1965-66 – country week president and has also been an executive committee member before becoming greenkeeper 24 years ago.
Of his 63 years’ continuous commitment to the association, he said he had never seen the courts in better condition.
“I grew up on a dairy farm, so when I became greenkeeper I took a course, otherwise everyone would have said, ‘How would a dairy farmer know what he’s doing?’
“I’m down here every day now, poking around. It seems even if I go away for a day or two, something pops up, so I just end up here almost every day.”
The Mount Prospect Tennis Association is now flourishing with more than 400 members and is a hive of activity within the Hepburn Shire.
And Cosgrave hopes that is the way it will always be.
“Hopefully, the end’s not in sight here,” he said.
“It’s such a great thing to be a part of. I still love tennis as much as the first time I stepped onto the court, even though I’m not playing any more.”
