Recreation in Pinelands Part 1

The first sports club in Pinelands was the Pinelands Lawn Tennis Club which met for the first time in the home of Mr Brooks in October 1923. The first two courts had already been built next to the Police Camp. The third and fourth courts followed in 1924 and 1925. The practice wall built in 1927 still stands today. In 1937 the clubhouse was built and opened by Mr. Rose-Innes. In 1956 the Club with other sporting bodies explored the possibility of a central social club but a number of setbacks occurred, and the idea was abandoned. In 1959 the club turned down a proposal to move to a proposed Howard Centre recreational area, and instead installed all-weather courts on all 6 courts followed by flood lights in 1965. A further 2 courts were added.

The idea of a Cricket Club was first discussed in 1926 and in 1934 the first meeting of the club was held. The members started work on the site of the disused brickfields ,slowly creating a cricket field. The clubhouse was erected in 1935 and the turf laid the following year. In 1948 the club was able to widen the field and build a cinder athletic track with the Pinelands Athletics club, renaming the area Pinelands Oval. A new Pavilion was built in 1961. In 1982 the club merged with the Pinelands hockey Club and created two hockey fields and in the process grassing over the athletic track.

Pinelands had three Bowling Clubs. The first was the Pinelands Bowling Club which was established in 1927 under the guidance of Whitford Griffith. The first green was formally opened in 1929 and the clubhouse was built in 1930. This clubhouse was replaced in 1950. A second green was established in 1939 and a third in 1965. In 1955 a meeting held at the Pinelands Bowling clubhouse led to the Howard Bowling Club being established at the Howard Place Sporting Centre. The clubhouse was opened in 1957. However, by 2011 membership had dropped and the club entered into discussions with the Pinelands Bowling Club. The amalgamation took place in 2012. Also part of the amalgamation was the Pinewood Bowling club established originally as part of the Old Mutual sports facilities as the land was to be developed for affordable housing. Many uses were put forward for the Howard club land including shops, seven a side rugby, a community garden and Municipal offices. It is currently used by the municipality as offices.

A Pistol Club was started in 1935 after a spate of burglaries including the Pinelands Bus Service driver being held up at gunpoint one night. Members were permitted  to use the Police Camp next to the tennis courts for target practice

The hockey club was established in 1937 by Sydney Sides. Garden Cities donated and prepared land on Steengroef Road as well as making one hundred pounds available for a pavilion. The pavilion was extended by the inclusion of a tea kiosk in 1957. The clubhouse burnt down in 1982 and in the same year the Hockey Club amalgamated with the Cricket Club to form the Pinelands Sport Club. To accommodate the Hockey Club, two hockey fields were constructed at the oval. 

The Pinelands Athletics Club was also established in 1937 when 21 residents met in a school hall and agreed to forming track and field club. Practises took place at 6 am on the Oval. In 1939 the Club successfully raised funds for a track to be laid around the Cricket field. The close co-operation with the Cricket Club was further cemented when the Athletics club made a donation towards the new cricket clubhouse in 1962. Over the years the club had outstanding successes with members not only becoming provincial and national champions but also being awarded Springbok colours. However, by the early 1970 the membership dropped to the point where an amalgamation with Celtic Harries was considered. However soon the membership started to go from strength to strength. In 1976 the club resolved to extend an invitation to all communities in Cape Town to join the club, which further strengthened membership. The growing interest in road running in the 80s also helped swell membership. A new track was established on the lower oval and a clubhouse was built in 1987.

The Pinelands Amateur Boxing Clubwas formed in 1960 by Marcus Temple and soon won seven of the eleven interschool titles. The 50 members were trained by Marcus and three boxers from Maitland, all of whom had provincial titles. Training took place in the Pinelands Primary School Hall.

The Clyde Pinelands Football Club applied to move in 1964 from Observatory to Julianaveld and was accepted as a Pinelands sporting club. It is the oldest non-amalgamated football club in South Africa, having been formed in 1898 by “Daddy” McCloud in Observatory who had been a member of the Clyde FC in Scotland. The club had to wait until 1973 before moving to its home at the end of Ringwood Drive on the old Pinelands dump site. Originally Ringwood Drive was to cross the site to link up with Links Drive. Over the years players have been selected for the national team and in the heyday of Cape Town City, a number of Clyde players were in their team. Other players have gone on to join professional clubs in Europe. 

From time to time many other sports clubs have been established for sports such as badminton, bridge, jukskei, croquet, chess, baseball (at Clyde Pinelands) and archery (behind the High School).