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BOBBY LEITCH, FIVE TIME CITY TENNIS CHAMPION
3/30/06
by Sara James
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When I set
out to find former City of Richmond tennis champions, I didn't
imagine my search would basically become a walking tour of homes
within a short square mile of the Country Club of Virginia.
But, when
looking for distinguished champions of the 1930's and 40's, that is
where I found them, near the place where many of them played tennis
in their youth.
Bob Leitch
resides a few strides from the new baseball fields on St.
Christopher's Road. |
A
vigorous 88, his mind is quite sharp and he had no trouble recalling
tennis memories from 65 years ago. Had I been able to remember
myself all of the questions I had wanted to ask him, I am certain he could
have filled pages with stories. But I found him to be so modest and
unassuming that I forgot to ask him about how he helped finance Arthur
Ashe in the beginning years. And about his tenure as the third
President of the RTA.
In
fact, I found him to be so humble that he surprised me when I asked him if
he thought he would have won more titles had he not been drafted to serve
in the 2nd World War. "I would have won more, I think so,"
he said.
Bobby
Leitch was 21 when he won his first City of Richmond Tennis
Championship. There were over 125 players in the draw, back in the
day when tennis was so popular that media coverage of the event spanned no
less than 3 or 4 newspaper pages. The year: 1939, and this
serve-and-volley player defended his title twice successfully before he
was drafted into the service of our country in 1942.
Mr.
Leitch served as a navy pilot, performing air and sea rescue off the East
Coast. When the war ended, he came back to Richmond, and won the
City Championship again in 1946. "I hadn't picked up a racquet
for a couple of years, but there were a lot of people in the same
boat" he admitted.
His
career took him to Fredericksburg in 1947, after winning the title that
year as well, naturally. He managed a branch of the Bottled Gas
Corporation of Virgina. He didn't play much tennis after he left
Richmond, because he couldn't find much competition.
In
1955, he moved back to Richmond with his wife, Adele, whom he married in
1945. He and Adele had two sons and a daughter, and were together
for 57 years before her death in 2002. Bobby played tennis at the
Country Club of Virginia socially while focusing on his job and
family.
One
Sunday while he and his family were at church, somebody broke into his
home. Among the losses, his championship tennis cups and trophies, which were
made of sterling silver.
"I'm
sure they've all been melted down into something else by now," he
replied, when I asked him if I could take a photo of one of them.
Tom
Wallace, CCV's Director of Racquet Sports, said, "Actually, his
kids are his trophies, his tennis legacies." Both John and Rob
Leitch played in the Hotchkiss Cup, a prominent men's traveling tournament
that was popular during the 1940's-70's. Bobby led the team for
years following his first City title.
Langdon
Moss, who plays at Willow Oaks, attended middle and high school with Rob
Leitch, who is a close friend. "I interacted with Mr. Leitch on
many occasions. He was still playing in the City Tournament [seniors
division] when I first started to play competitively in the mid-70's. He was
a very competitive person on the court and a true Southern Gentleman off
the court.... He is a true class act and has supported tennis in
Richmond for many years."
Could
Bobby, with his five City championships, have won more titles than the
current record-holder Sean Steinour (with 7 titles) had he not gone to war
in his tennis prime? We'll never know. But for 57 years, his
record was unbeatable.
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NEXT:
Champions Henry Valentine, Shelton Horsley, and Dell Sylvia.
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