1875

The Ōtaki Historical Society says a tennis club first appeared in Ōtaki in the 1870s.

1925

Fifty years later, in 1925, Ōtaki Sports Club was first incorporated — as The Ōtaki Lawn Tennis Club. In those days, it had two tennis courts on Waerenga Road (on the site where the bowling club is now).

1977

In 1977, after a huge local fundraising effort, the Ōtaki Tennis and Squash Club complex opened at its current site at Haruātai Park with four tennis courts and three squash courts

1992

In 1992, the Ōtaki Soccer Club (which was formed in 1974) amalgamated with the Ōtaki Tennis and Squash Club, and Ōtaki Sports Club was born.

2019

Up until July 2019, the tennis courts were for the use only of club members. Then, following Kāpiti Coast District Council paying for resurfacing the courts that year, the club lease was amended and KCDC accepted full ownership of the courts including all future and ongoing maintenance.

KCDC then required the courts to be open to the public.

2021

The club received a grant of $120,000 from NZCT to put floodlights around the tennis and futsal courts. Details here.

2021 sporting highlights

The club has:

• its first women’s football team since the 1980s
• its first women’s squash team since the 1990s
• three senior interclub tennis teams for the first time in current club memory

2022

The club doubled the size of its tennis membership and doubled the number of tennis interclub teams from 5-10.

The club was a finalist in the:

• Tennis Central Club of the Year awards.
• Nuku Ora (Sport Wellington) Club of the Year awards.

Historical news report

Here’s the earliest newspaper report we can find on Ōtaki Sports Club (in those days the Ōtaki Lawn Tennis Club): an Ōtaki Mail report from March 1931 on tennis competitions in Otaki.