Wimbledon 1923

Wimbledon 1923, Wallis Myers a great journalist, with a strong background on the world of tennis supports Arthur Balfour , British prime minister at the time, and together decide that it is worth promoting friendship and “fair play” through tennis. This is the first step and once the championship is over , the British International Club is founded. This dates November 26, 1924.

IC means International Club

Players of international competitions, representatives of Clubs and Universities in national and international championships and the winners of national championships may become associates of International Clubs. Wallis Myers, together with Lord Lyle, promote the creation of IC in other countries: in 1929 the French IC is founded, in 1931 those of USA and Holland, and in 1933 and 1937 the one of Czechoslovakia and Sweden.

The IC Council

The foundation of different IC´s of every country, is followed by the creation of the Council of the International Clubs, the IC Council, which is made up by representatives of every group and that meets as minimum of once a year during the Wimbledon Championship. In 1949, the IC Council decides that all the IC should not administrate directly the game of tennis, but support their own associations as far as rules and administration of the game makes reference. The organization wants to safeguard the basis of its foundation: the promotion of the friendship through the game of tennis, the interrelation among the associates of the same IC and those of other countries. 

IC idea spreads out..

After the Second World war, more IC´s are founded: Belgium in 1947, Argentina in 1948, and many others during the 50´s, 60´s and 70´s.
It is up to the IC Council to approve the foundation of an exclusive IC of each country. They should all be committed to respect the goals of the IC Council and they should create their own program to promote the friendship among associates as well as organize international meetings.
The amount of initiatives, supported by the fact that tennis is a sport for all the ages leads to the creation of the “IC Week” every five years.
The tennis players soon consider the IC to be the best of the opportunities to keep the contact with the world of the tennis. Traditional meetings and dinners take place during the international championships of Great Britain, USA, Australia and New Zealand.

International recognition

The International Tennis Federation recognizes the development and the seriousness of all the IC´s and after the year 2000, the IC Council is allowed attend the Annual General Meeting of the ITF.

BENEVOLENTIA, VIRTUS, AMICITIA, EQUITAS.Beautiful words of the universal Latin language that speak about good will, courage, decision, friendship and sports spirit. All of them qualities that symbolize the spirit of the international tennis clubs. This are the words that shine in the logo that was specially designed in 1949 for the IC´s, and that accompanied by the Roman laurel of the victory. 

The IC of Spain

1973 The IC Council recognizes the foundation of the IC of Spain on June 4, 1973. The Spanish IC meets for the first time on October 10 of the same year. Among the founders we find the most representatives names for the world of Spanish tennis at the time: Mr Manuel Alonso, Mr Jaime Bartrolí, Mr Andrés Gimeno, Mr Michael Lerín, Mr Juan Gisbert, Mr Pablo Llorens, Mr Juan Manuel Couder, Mr Federico Couder, Mr Carlos Godó, Mr Alberto Esplugas, Mr Jose M ª Gisbert, Mr Eduardo Fleishner, Mr Buenaventura Plaja.

1975. IC of Spain organizes a match in Barcelona against the IC of Italy.

1976 Spain takes part in the Potter Cup in Biarritz and organizes friendly matches against Argentina and New Zealand in Madrid.

1979 Spain takes part in the IC week in Paris. Spain reaches the final losing to Holland

1980 Matches are organized against the IC of France and the IC of Italy.

1985 Mr. Juan Mª Tintoré is elected president of the IC of Spain.

1986 Triangular Italy, Germany, Spain in Sorrento. A Spanish team takes part in the events organized to celebrate the centenary of Queens.

1988 Friendly match with the IC of Italy at the Llafranch tennis club and the IC of Great Britain at the Puerta de Hierro Club, Madrid.

1989 The IC of Switzerland celebrates its 20 anniversary and organizes a tennis-ski event in which two Spanish teams participate. One team travels to the tennis tournament organized by the Italian IC in Florence. A tennis-golf competition is played at the R.C. de Polo and at the R.C de Golf el Prat, with the participation of the Great Britain, Italy and Spanish teams.

1990 The IC of Italy organizes a tennis-golf competition in Lesa and Castelconturbia. Spain, France, Great Britain and the hosting team, Italy, participate. A Spanish team participates in the IC week in Japan.

1991 More tennis-golf on the San Juan de Luz competition organized by the French IC. France, Italy, Great Britain and Spain participate. Also, a Spanish team takes part at the triangular organized by the Rot Weiss Tennis Club from Berlin. Our team becomes finalist.

1992Two of our teams participate at the IC week organized by the IC of Mexico. The Columbus trophy and the Windmill trophy are played. The tennis-golf competition organized by the IC of Great Britain is played at Wimbledon.

1993 Tennis golf competition at the Real Club de Tenis Barcelona 1899 and at the Real Club de Golf el Prat.

1995: IC of Spain participates at the at the Windmill Trophy en Deauville, France.

1997 C of Spain participates on the Columbus Trophy at Punta del Este, Uruguay, and on the Windmill Trophy on La Zoute, Belgium.

1999 Spain participates at the Columbus Trophy organized by the Belgium IC. The IC of Spain also participates at the Windmill Trophy and the Mercelis Trophy organized at Wimbledon for the celebration of the 75 anniversary of the British IC.

2000 Columbus Trophy organized at Sun City, South Africa.

2002 A Spanish IC team participates on the IC week organized by the Montecarlo IC.

2004 A friendly match is organized at the Real Club de Tennis Barcelona with the IC of Uruguay. The French IC celebrates the 75 anniversary and organizes a competition for IC teams. A friendly match is organized at Real Club de Tennis Barcelona for a junior team of the IC of Great Britain to play a junior team of the IC of Spain.

2005 During the month of July, an IC Spanish team under 16 wins the European Championship played at CA Vincennes.

2006 Spain participates on the Columbus Trophy in Monaco. During the month of September a senior ladies team plays at Aix en Provence. Elections for the IC of Spain. Mr. Juan Mª Tintoré is reelected president.

2007 A Spanish IC team travels to India to play a friendly match against the IC of Delhi. A tennis-golf competition is planned for the month of June in Mallorca.

The Potter Cup,”Campionat Internacional de Catalunya de Veterans y Gran Premi Generalitat de Catalunya", has been played since 1979 at the Real Club de Polo de Barcelona. This club has been hosting it for 28 years.

Nine countries have signed for the XXXV Potter Cup, 2007: Belgium, France, USA, Spain, Ireland, Italy, Great Britain, Luxemburg and Russia.

The participants receive official points from the ITF after 2002. This is due to the international relevance of the competition. 

The Potter Cup

The Potter Cup, a team competition for men over forty-five is organized by the ILTC of. Spain.

The ILTC is a world wide association whose members are well known international tennis players.

The Potter Cup was first started by John Potter in 1973. John Potter was from the United States but spent his life between Barcelona and Biarritz. He was a good tennis player and athlete. He represented the USA in 1936 in Berlin Olympic Games in fencing, being awarded with a bronze medal. During a friendly match between the ILTC of Great Britain and the ILTC of Spain, he decided to offer a silver trophy. At that moment the competition officially started.

Initially the competition was played among four ILTC: France, Great Britain, USA and Spain. These teams have always been taking part to the competition every year up to now. Originally, the competition took place in Biarritz, France, from 1973 to 1979. In the year 1980 the competition moved to the Real Club de Polo in Barcelona, where it’s still played up to now.
The Potter Cup is supported and recognized by the Catalan Tennis Federation. The Potter Cup is included in the official ITF veterans calendar and in the Tennis Europe calendar. The players are awarded ITF official points for their wins in the competition.

Among the players that have been taking part in the competition we find internationally recognized players such as: Jean Borotra, Budge Patty, Frank Sedgman, Tom Brown, Fred Kowaleski, Abe Segal, Gordon Forbes, Beppe Merlo, Giordano Maioli, Sergio Tacchini, Jose’ Luis Arilla, Manolo Orantes, Jacques Chaban Delmas, Jeremy Bates, and many others. The teams who took part in the competiton: Argentina, Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, France, Germany, Great Britain, Hungary, India, Italy, Ireland, Luxemburg, Mexico, Monaco, New Zealand, Russia, South Africa, Switzerland and USA.

IC of Spain, May- June 2008