Update from the Netherlands!!…Real Tennis recently took a positive step towards returning to Holland. The City of Haarlem has agreed to the proposal to restore the Real Tennis court at Huis ter Kleef. The court is, among covered courts, the world’s oldest and is now used by the city primarily as a canteen. The challenge now is to raise approx. €1,500,000 for the substantial rebuilding required. The court, complete with its proud little tower, was built around 1560 by Hendrik van Brederode next to his castle and Tennis was played there likely until the early 1600s.Between 1500 and 1800 the total number of courts in the Netherlands, then called kaatsbaan, exceeded the 150 mark: there is not a single court left.Real Tennis Club Huis ter Kleef (formerly RTC Wassenaar) was founded in the Wassenaar offices of notary Niek P.C. van Wijk on 20 November 2001. The club’s aim is to construct and operate a Real Tennis court. The Stichting Huis ter Kleef will acquire the monument and restore the court.For further information on this absolutely unique project please visit our website www.realtennis.nl
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