About the WSTC

Welcome to the official website of The Wayland Swim & Tennis Club, a membership-owned and operated private family swim and tennis club located on a beautiful, secluded 11 acre property in North Wayland. Some of the many features of our club include:

Pools (6 lane swimming, diving pool, separate kiddie pool)

Swim and Dive Team coached by the WHS State Champion Coach, five dual meets and season-ending Championship Meet with over 90 participants!
Swim Lessons, Dive Lessons
Pool Games with kids of all ages – “Shark”, “Dibble” and others
Adult Fitness Swim – Tuesday and Thursday evenings

Tennis (7 outdoor courts: 4 hard surface, 2 lighted har-tru, 1 clay)

Tennis Clinics and Team led by Local USPTA and USPTR Certified Professionals with over 145 children participating!
Matches against local tennis clubs
Pickleball
Adult daytime cardio tennis and round robins
Adult evening tennis clinics
Parent/Child round robin events with pizza and prizes

Entertainment

Opening Cocktail Party in June
Hawaiian Night in July with cookout, boat races, bellyflop contest and games for kids
Mid Summer Family BBQ in July
Swim Team Socials in June/July including ice cream sundae party, team breakfast and pizza lunch
Friday Fun and Wednesday Fun at tennis and swim lessons all summer (Kids Run-the-Club Day, Game Day and more!)
Family Volleyball Tournament
Talent Show and Swim/Tennis Awards Banquet in August

Additional Features/Benefits

All Wayland membership – safe environment for kids and great way to meet your community
Variety of well organized activities for kids and adults
Long term employees who coach, teach lessons and know the membership well
Gas grills and picnic tables for summer lunch or dinner cookouts
Reasonable guest fees
Use of facilities for birthday parties or group functions

Club History

Our club was founded by a group of devoted Wayland residents who were inspired by a desire to find a place in the town to spend leisure summer days. They believed there was "no prettier place to spend their lazy summer days than here in Wayland." The group (including Bill Bertlesen, Ed Swiedler, Bob Gibson, and Les Flood) envisioned a private place where families could go to enjoy swimming and tennis with the opportunity for both children and adults to socialize and have fun. The interest sparked further discussion, resulting in the formation of a committee. After a great deal of hard work, perseverance, and obtaining town approval, the Wayland Swimming and Tennis Club (usually called the Wayland Swim and Tennis Club or, simply, WSTC) was soon established. An initial agreement with the Town limited the operating hours and number of members to 100.

In 1962, the Club proceeded to purchase 12 acres of undeveloped land from the Dickson Trust at a cost of about $8,800. Plans for a swimming pool, bathhouse, and clay courts (#1 and 2) were developed. Chris Crowell drew up the design for the building. Bob Gibson handled the contracting and design of the pool. Bill Wightman took off three and one half months from his business to manage the construction. Ed Swiedler’s company did most of the construction. Nancy Anderson originally designed the landscaping, while other members including Edith Stokey and Tom Myles did much of the planting. Most, if not all, of this work was done pro bono.

The Club encountered initial problems in the construction and development process. A spring was found under the deep end of the pool, interfering with drainage. As a result, Bill Wightman and Bill Lewis dug a trench across both clay courts by hand. A pipe was installed and the trench was filled with 10 tons of gravel. Members carrying buckets transported the gravel to the trench. Also, negotiations were required as the Club attempted to access the Wayland water supply. A four-foot deep trench had to be dug from Autumn Lane to our pipes.

Ground was broken in March of 1963, and construction completed in June, barely in time for the Club to open for its first season. The total cost was nearly $100,000. Each of the original 100 families paid an initiation fee of $100, a refundable bond of $300, and the first year dues of $150. The remainder was borrowed from the bank. Les Flood, the first president (who, ironically, moved away before the Club even opened), and Bill Sullivan, the second president, and the Board of Governors worked extremely hard to get the Club up and running. The first Board of Governors consisted of Ed Swiedler, Bill Keast, Jane Lewis, Sally Wightman, Bill Bertelsen, Bob Gibson, Mike Hazard, Hilde Harris, Chuck Goodhue, and Bill Sullivan.

The original purpose of the Club was to provide a place of recreation for families: children’s activities, including swimming, diving and tennis have always been a primary emphasis. Since the Club’s inception, children have had the opportunity to learn and compete in athletics. The swim team (under the initial direction of Harold Miroff, Mike McGill, Claude Valle and most recently Mike Foley) has consistently enjoyed great interest and success.

Tennis has always been an exciting focus, with almost every club member playing in the early tournaments. On ‘tennis days,’ all tennis players came to the Club several times a season for a huge round robin. One of the original founders, Bill Wightman, won every men’s singles championship he entered. (His mother, Hazel Wightman, for whom the Wightman cup was named, won the women’s U.S. champion singles player in the 1910’s and donated the original bang board on court #4.) The junior Tennis program was greatly enhanced in 2004, under the leadership of members Sandy Wiss and John Carliglio, and under the direction of Dan Mork.

Memorial trophies were established to honor two greatly loved members: Clary White was one of the original Club members and an enthusiastic tennis player; he died during a game. Janet Swain was a popular teen-ager, who was very active in swimming and tennis. Tragically, she died in a bicycle accident. The Janet Tucker Swain Memorial Award was retired in 1995 after 20 years.

For the first twenty years of the Club’s existence, there was no full time manager; hence, coaches, lifeguards and instructors were interviewed and hired by Club officers and committee members, who invested hours of their time to benefit the Club’s operations. Members also ran the athletic activities and the Club functions. Women members spent full days at the pool, brought sandwiches to lifeguards and swimmers, and generally monitored the function of the whole facility. Of the 100 founding families, a few are still members. Since the late 1970’s, the Club has hired a full-time Club Manager for the season, notably Claude Valle, Tom Duby, and Joe Welby.

The Club has expanded a great deal since its inception. Tennis courts #3 and #4 were added in 1964, followed by courts #5 and #6 in 1970, and #7 and #8 in 1974. Membership increased as more families wanted to join and the waiting list grew dramatically. During the same time, the town allowed us to increase the membership to 150 families, then to 165. Finally, an exasperated Board said, “… 200 families but no more.” In 2002, the Club was granted approval to also include membership for up to 18 of our neighbor households designated on Glezen and Autumn Lanes. Presently, the Club’s membership is at 200 plus 7 neighbor members, with a waiting list of approximately 200 families.

The Club’s relationship with our neighbors has always been important. Neighbors are invited to use WSTC as Guests of the club each season. In the early 1990s, the zoning board meeting to renew our special permit to operate in a residential neighborhood was contentious. Neighbors expressed concerns that the Club was not operating according to the Zoning Bylaws (regarding approved activities, sound, traffic, hours, lighting and parking.) It was generally agreed that, moving forward, the Club would communicate better with our neighbors, manage to our bylaws, and not “expand” beyond the current scope of operations and activities. Today, we hold Club/Neighbor meetings each Spring and Fall to assure a strong and open relationship.

After 30 years, the original pool was renovated to include the shallow area beyond the lap lanes.

After 40 years, the original bath house required significant repair. What and how to do this involved a process of consensus building among our members. Many Club Presidents led this effort: Jeff Aresty initiated the project, Nan Stout facilitated the design, Bob Cramer achieved membership approval, Dan Sharry initiated construction, and Steve Geiger completed it in 2006. Many members contributed significantly to making this project a success, including David Saltzman our architect, and Brian Levey our lawyer. At a cost of about $600,000, an increase in our dues cap of $200 per member family was required. The new Clubhouse included more spacious bathrooms, a new pool filter, handicapped accessibility, manager’s office, guards’ room, outdoor covered patio and renovated grounds.

The Club has always benefited from unselfish efforts, hard work and commitment of its members over the years. Spring clean ups are well attended; they tend to become social events in and of themselves. Often, individual members undertake small improvements as pet projects. Much of the landscaping enhancements are the inspired work of a few devotees, as is the care and attention of the clay tennis courts.

The tremendous efforts on the part of our caring members to construct, restore, and beautify the grounds come replete with assorted grunts, groans, and some colorful but unprintable invectives, and result in numerous sore backs and muscles while painting, scraping, landscaping, and spreading bark mulch and crushed stone. But the result is extremely rewarding.

The Club grounds look great in preparation for opening day each year, ready to be enjoyed by all.

A portion of this historical information was retrieved from the document, History of Wayland Swim and Tennis Club, 1963-1988, written by Pam Post and Leslie Edelman. Subsequent edits provided by Jo Bertelsen Wilson. Most recent edits by Bob Cramer. This Club History section is intended to be additive, and not revisionist