PAULINE BETZ ADDIE CUP HISTORY WITH A LONGWOOD SPIN

 

by Carol Wood

 

The Pauline Betz Addie Cup, named for one of the greatest woman players of the 20th century, came into existence in 1981 thru the major efforts of several “cast-off ” Sears Cup players. Sears Cup between New England, Eastern, Middle States and Mid-Atlantic was and is a very popular team event.  The two ladies from Mid-Atlantic decided that there was life after 40 even if it didn’t include Sears Cup and thus the Addie Cup was born. One of those founders, Carol Wood (Wendell) continues to play for her section (Mid-Atlantic) and, of note, was a junior member of Longwood in the early 1950s. The Cup started as a 40 and over event and as the years passed by it was obvious that the original ladies were aging up –again- and that they wanted to keep playing. A 50’s division was added and then a 60’s and finally the 70’s came on board growing the total numbers tremendously. Teams now consist of somewhere between 16 and 25 players. Each individual match in each age division is counted as a point so that one age division is not more important than another.

 

The quality of competition is extremely high with a number of top nationally ranked players participating. The first event held in 1981 was won by Mid-Atlantic and they continued to dominate winning 7 of the first 9 competitions but as the calendar changed so did the winning teams with Eastern taking the lead 13-12 in the number of Cups held. There have however been many close encounters over the years and finally in 2000 at the Wellesley Country Club, in Wellesley, MA, the Eastern/Mid-Atlantic domination ended with New England winning it’s first ever Addie Cup with a 9 to 8 win over Eastern in the final.  New England claimed their second victory last year at the Wilmington Country Club in Wilmington, DE, again over a strong Eastern team and their third victory this year at the Longwood Cricket Club, in Chestnut Hill, MA over the Mid-Atlantic team.  This year, 2008, marked the 28th anniversary of the competition and there continues to be a flow of “cast-off ” Sears Cup players to that next level in their tennis lives.  Longwood member Sheila Weinstock is the only player to have played in every Addie Cup competition.

 

PAULINE BETZ ADDIE CUP WINNERS

 

Mid-Atlantic:  1981-85, 88-90, 93, 2001-3

Eastern:  1986-7, 91-2, 94-99, 2004-6

New England: 2000, 2007, 2008