FROM playing on the grass courts at Kooyong in 1962, to being a regular fixture at virtually every annual Tennis Victoria Country Week since, there isn’t much that Wangaratta’s Pat Flynn hasn’t either seen or achieved.
Inducted as an inaugural Country Week Legend in 2018, Pat Flynn is a name held in the highest esteem and reverence among Country Week regulars.
Potentially, Pat’s greatest achievement has nothing to do with his remarkable on-court feats however, but rather his love affair with the yearly ritual and his ability to have passed that infatuation onto his family.
Joining Pat this week in Swan Hill, the host city of this year’s event, are his sons Shane and Paul, daughter Mandy and son-in-law Matthew, along with grandsons Joe and Sam, all of which have taken to the courts at some stage to continue a family tradition that begun in 1962.
It was then, as an 18-year-old, that Pat took part in his first Tennis Victoria Country Week event, which back then was held on the hallowed grass of the Kooyong Lawn Tennis Club – and is a memory that is still fondly recalled some 63 years later.
“I was only young, a chap by the name of Brian Curran talked me into going down, he was one of our members (at Wangaratta) and I’ve been going ever since,” Pat said this week.
“Of the 58 years I’ve been (to Country Week), there were only three years where I haven’t participated.
“One year I had a hip operation but I still went, another year I had a calf injury on the Saturday but I still went to Wodonga and there was one year at Kooyong where it rained all Monday and Tuesday, the courts were about a foot under water and Country Week was called off.
“I have great memories of playing at Kooyong, even though it wasn’t all played at Kooyong in those days.
“We used courts at the Albert Ground, Glen Iris, Royal South Yarra, they were mainly porous courts, although the ones at the Albert Ground were grass courts and I really enjoyed playing there.”
While there is a fair distance between the grass court of Kooyong and Swan Hill, the one thing that hasn’t changed is Pat’s love of the sport – and Country Week – which has been passed on to the next generation of the Flynn family.
So much so, that Pat has a book with over 60 years of memories, articles and results from Country Week, including the names of every player he has played with from his beloved Wangaratta Lawn Tennis Club.
Having played with over 60 teammates, of which Pat can name every one, it’s counting his own sons and grandsons as playing partners that is most special to the Country Week veteran.
“I love playing with my sons Shane and Paul, who’s out on the court at the moment, Joe and Sam who are my two grandsons and Matthew Allen, my son in law,” Pat said.
“It’s just wonderful playing with my family and I hope they enjoy playing with me.
“We always go out of a night time as a group to wherever the functions are, we go out as a group and all arrive home at different times – I was the first one home last night by a mile.”
Clearly Pat’s affection for Country Week will continue on within the Flynn family long after he hangs up his racquet, with son Shane also competing at the Ken Harrison Reserve this week.
“When we were kids, every year dad would go off to Country Week and he was always so excited to go, so I guess we grew up wanting to be a part of it too,” Shane said.
“Once we were old enough, we got to come here and I suppose, what’s not to love.
“It’s always a test of stamina, both on and off the court.
“You develop a lot of friendships with people from all over Victoria and even though you don’t see or have any communication with those people throughout the year, you just see them once a year and it’s like they’re your best mates for a week.”
Having been such a large part of Country Week history over the past three decades, Swan Hill is held in the highest esteem by the official Country Week Legend, who still fondly remembers the days when the temporary tennis courts not only covered the soccer pitches, but also the cricket oval at the Ken Harrison Reserve.
With some of the most immaculate grass tennis courts in the country, it’s little wonder that Pat and his family continue to enjoy coming to Swan Hill.
“I think Swan Hill would be our favourite place to play Country Week, mainly because everybody is at the one centre,” Pat said.
“The courts are always very good, the committee do a wonderful job and we always enjoy coming here.
“I have nothing against the other places we go to such as Wodonga, Shepparton and Yarrawonga, but at Swan Hill, everyone is here and all at the one location.
“You might have teammates playing on the back courts or on the main courts and you can go and see how their going.
“It’s a beautiful setup here, they’re lovely courts and the committee do a wonderful job.”
Although Swan Hill is fast becoming synonymous with one of the greatest weeks on the amateur tennis calendar, there’s little doubt our community still has a long way to go to reach the Country Week stature of Pat Flynn, who shows no signs of slowing down.
