Biography
Matthew (Matt) Sayliss was born in 1904 in Sheffield, England. He came to Canada in 1929 married and never left! He and his wife raised a family in Leaside and Matt went on to be the driving force behind the founding of the Leaside Tennis Club. In the mid-forties Matt along with friends decided that they and their children needed somewhere to play tennis. Matt provided a net and they played on the grass in Millwood Park – now Trace Manes. The Town Council then allowed them to lay out a court made of dirt with lime markings on the site of some of the current Leaside Tennis Club Courts.In 1948, Matt convinced the Leaside Recreation Committee of a need for more courts and a tennis club. Two asphalt courts were laid in 1948 followed by two more in 1949. Sadly after forming the Club Matt died in 1952, one year before the club house was built. However it was his unwavering belief in the value of tennis for the community that led to the creation of the Leaside Tennis Club.