Independent Girls' Schools Sporting Association - Tildesley Tennis

Tildesley Tennis

The Tildesley Tennis Shield competition is IGSSA's longest running carnival. It was first held in 1918, with the now defunct Normanhurst School in Ashfield declared the champion school, and Daphne Akhurst (1903–1933) the winner of the singles competition. Akhurst was to become one of the best female tennis players Australia has ever produced. She was a pupil of Normanhurst School, which in 1918 had as its Headmistress, Miss Evelyn Mary Tildesley (1882–1976) from Staffordshire, England. Normanhurst School had a very successful tennis program, and by the 1920s had produced two of Australia's most famous female tennis players, with Rosie Payten in addition to Daphne Akhurst. It was Tildesley who donated "a beautiful oak and bronze shield" for a tennis competition which encouraged team spirit amongst Sydney's Protestant girls' schools.

The Shield was to be presented to the school which showed the best average score in tennis, with each school sending a tenth of its students over the age of twelve. The idea behind this was that each school would be able to give many of their pupils the chance of playing, rather than just a few very talented students, as was the case with the School Girls' Championships held by the New South Wales Lawn Tennis Association.

Tildesley was inspired by American Tennis Tournaments in determining how her competition would be scored. In such tournaments, a percentage of games won against games played is taken. This system of scoring has often been criticised over the years, particularly by the larger schools, and to this day it remains highly unusual for a large school to win the Tildesley Shield. It is however apparent that the reasoning that prompted Tildesley was that of encouraging more participation in tennis amongst the 12 Protestant schools operating in 1918, and to have a scoring system which rewarded the school with the best average.

Until 1922, the competition was managed by the Girls Secondary Schools Lawn Tennis Association, and after this time, the Girls Secondary Schools Sports Union (now IGSSA). From 1922 until 1944, the Tildesley Shield was held, where possible, on three consecutive Saturdays in October at White City Stadium. In 1918 it was held at the Double Bay Courts, as White City was then a fun parlour which was taken over for grass courts circa 1920–21. Matches were the best of eight games, with entries based on a 1:15 ratio for girls 12 years and over on 1 October, with a minimum of 12 (6 singles, 3 doubles) and a maximum of 32 (16 singles, 8 doubles).

From 1944 to 1946, the numbers were modified to 1:25, with a minimum of eight (4 singles, 2 doubles) and a maximum of 20 (10 singles, 5 doubles). In 1947 it reverted to the original scheme until 1971 when the Entry Scheme was redrafted. In 1980, it was again redrafted to a system of a 1:22 ratio, by Miss Patti Dyson, then Headmistress of PLC Sydney. All matches are now one set only, first to 9 games, no advantage. A tie-breaker is used at 7–all in quarter finals, semi-finals and finals only. Games Won, Games Lost, Games Played in all singles and doubles games are totalled for each school, with the final percentage for each school being the number of games won over the number of games played.

The continuous attempts to redraft the conditions of the Shield are largely due to the prestigious place the competition holds in Independent Girls' School Tennis. However, it has remained essential that the conditions stay true to the principles of the donor. If Miss Tildesley had wished the Shield to be reserved for the champions, which would have led to her school winning more often, then the conditions of play would have been much different. However, Tildesley, along with her sister Beatrice and Mr Henry Marsh, who had developed the concept with her, insisted that the school with the best average of games won the Shield. As Marsh explained in his article in the Normanhurst Jubilee Magazine:

In 1998, Mr Peter Spender donated a trophy for the Most Improved Tildesley Shield Tournament School, in memory of his wife Diane Greaves, an ex–SCEGGS Darlinghurst student. Any school who improves their position from the previous year automatically becomes eligible to win the Spender trophy, and for each place gained points are awarded. Points are then accumulated according to the number of places a school improves.

Today the Tildesley Shield Competition is open to all IGSSA schools, with 24 of them typically choosing to compete, and takes place at the Thornleigh Tennis Centre in Eastwood over three consecutive days, usually in April. Entry is accepted according to a ratio of 1:33 secondary enrolments, which may change slightly each year due to changes in enrolment numbers.