By Kim J. Harmon

I

t has been said that tennis is the sport of a lifetime and Alex Aitchison – from his years as promotion manager for Dunlop Australia Limited (1951-1966) to the time he was named Tennis Man of the Year by the Newtown Tennis Association (1998) – has certainly shown the veracity of that statement.

To get any real grasp of how much Alex, now 70, has accomplished in the sport of tennis all you have to do is page through his resume – all five pages of it. It’s all there, too – the position as general manager of the Lawn Tennis Association of Victoria, Melbourne, Australia (1966-1972); the position as chairman and chief executive officer of the Port Washington Tennis Academy (1972-1985); his two singles championships from the Ringwood Tennis Club in Australia (1962-63 and 1963-64); and his representation of Australia in the Stevens Cup of the Men’s Senior International teams competition (1980-84).

And so much more.

Yes, it’s all there. Alex – who started played in 1940, when he was nine, earning court time by doing chores at his brother’s club – accomplished quite a bit before he and his wife, Marjorie, moved to Newtown in 1992. But his impact on tennis didn’t stop – oh no, it continued on, and for everything he has done up to now Alex Aitchison is being inducted into the Newtown Sports Hall of Fame.

Looking To Retire

About nine years ago, Alex and Marj were ready to move from Sands Point, Long Island, and were looking for a nice place to retire to. At first, they were considering Arizona – with its dry heat and all – but were encouraged by friends to look at New England.

They poked around for a while until they alighted on Newtown. And after much hemming and hawing, their real estate agent found just the house for them.

“We fell in love with it straightaway,” said Alex. “It was ideal.”

It wasn’t long after that Alex began searching for a tennis outlet. He stopped down at Beaver Brook Tennis Club in Danbury to inquire about membership and before he knew it – BAM! – he was an instructor.

Yes, Alex walked into the club looking to inquire a membership at the same time the manager was lamenting that he was short an instructor.

Talk about luck.

Talk about timing.

Talk about it happening all over again when Alex attended his first meeting – the annual meeting – of the Newtown Tennis Association in 1994. He was on a simple exploratory mission and before he knew it – BAM! – Lou Palmer had nominated Alex for the presidency and seconds later the nomination was seconded and passed.

“It was blindsided by it,” chuckled Alex, who served for the next three years.

“It was pretty much a social body at the time,” said Alex, “and I felt it needed a little more organization, a way to plan and run functions, a way to organize play, and a way to get the information out to the public.”

He resurrected the rules and regulations and wrote an NTA constitution. Then he began to work on getting sponsors to help run the tournaments such as the Newtown Open, the Bertram Stroock Memorial, the Junior Championships, the free Adult and Junior Tennis Clinics, the Intertown Junior Tennis team, and the Laurel Cup team competition.

In 1997, Alex – who also coached at Immaculate High School in Danbury – worked as a honorary consultant with the Newtown Parks and Recreation Department in its project to renovate the Dickinson Park and Treadwell Park tennis facilities. He compiled and submitted a study paper and submitted it to Park and Rec through the NTA.

With all of that hard work it should be no surprise, then, that since his first involvement with the NTA, Alex has received two awards. He and his wife were presented with a Special Service Award in 1997 and he was named Tennis Man of the Year in 1998.

And he continues to remain busy. Alex – listed in the International Who’s Who of Tennis – still teaches at Beaver Brook Tennis Club in Danbury and still maintains his business, Tennis Consultants International, which is a management and consulting service to clubs, associations, organizations and individuals. He also maintains affiliations with the International Tennis Hall of Fame in Newport, Rhode Island (as a lifetime member); the United States Tennis Association (as a lifetime member); Tennis Australia (official U.S. representative); the Australian Davis Cup Foundation (official U.S. representative); the International Clubs of Australia and the United States (as a member); and still is sponsored by Dunlop/ Slazenger for his tennis rackets, clothing and accessories.

Phew.

But Alex – listed as a Town Notable at the Edmond Town Hall – does have a life outside of tennis. He helps raise funds for charity and drives for the Newtown Meals on Wheels and is also a Luminaria volunteer (he gets to screw in the lightbulbs) for the annual Christmas tree lighting in Newtown.

“I think I get the most enjoyment and satisfaction out of showing a kid how to hit a tennis ball and to see the kick on their faces when it really happens,” said Alex. “But I also get a lot of enjoyment out of doing Meals on Wheels . . . to see all these people who are waiting for you, to talk with you for maybe 30 seconds. I enjoy helping people.”

And he will continue to help people for as long as he can. With a couple of nagging injuries holding him back, Alex doesn’t get out onto the court much (except to teach), but one thing he will impart on those he teaches is the simple axiom of the sport.

“If you like to play tennis,” he said, “you can play it for the rest of your life. It’s the sport of a lifetime.”