USTA Eastern Gives Back
USTA Eastern | October 23, 2017
The Metro and Northern Regions of USTA Eastern hosted two charity tennis events during the month of October. Metro hosted Rally for Relief and Northern hosted Serve for the Cure that raised more than $16,000 for breast cancer and disaster relief.
Serve for the Cure
The 4th Annual Serve For The Cure (SFTC), the Capital Region’s largest annual charity tennis tournament, drew 102 tournament players and raised $6,500, its winningest result to date. Held on October 1, SFTC served up a fundraising ACE by surpassing the amount of last year’s event proceeds by 38 percent. Since the event’s 2014 inception, SFTC has raised $17,500 and all proceeds are donated to Susan G. Komen Upstate New York.
SFTC is sponsored by USTA Eastern’s Northern Region, the Albany CTA All Points Tennis, Inc., and Tri-City Fitness in Latham, N.Y., where the tournament took place. There were no “tennis whites” to be found at this event; all tournament players came donning their best “tennis pinks” to kick off the first day of Breast Cancer Awareness Month in style while enjoying tennis doubles play, refreshments, post-tennis parties, prizes and player gifts for their enthusiastic and generous support.
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The local broadcast media couldn’t wait to get a glimpse of the sea of pink on the Tri-City Fitness courts, as the event garnered media coverage from WNYT (local NBC affiliate), Spectrum News and WRGB (local CBS affiliate), which also featured an in-studio interview with SFTC event co-chairs on its Upstate Sports Edge program.
Breast cancer has affected many in the Capital Region’s tennis community. SFTC serves as a celebration that conveys the community’s support for its friends and family who have fought, or are currently fighting, the battle against breast cancer.
For more information about SFTC, contact Jenny Irwin.
Rally for Relief
In light of the natural disasters and devastation they have caused in Puerto Rico and Mexico, USTA Eastern felt compelled to tap into the strength and compassion of our tennis community. USTA Eastern, in conjunction with Hispanic Federation, hosted the Rally for Relief benefit, which drew 92 participants and raised $11,678 to support relief efforts in Mexico and Puerto Rico.
Held on October 7 at the home of the US Open, the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center, the benefit created a fun, social atmosphere of tennis. The tennis community rallied together – playing tennis past sunset to a live band. Activities included on-court games like a fun format, multiple partner doubles tournament, POP tennis, “Beat the Pro” and off-court festivities like corn hole, ping pong, food and beverages.
There were several raffle prizes and auction items donated by friends and partners of USTA Eastern. We appreciate all the generosity that was needed to bring together such a momentous event. Items included an hour of court time to play on Arthur Ashe Stadium, signed memorabilia from John Isner and Eugenie Bouchard donated by New York Empire. Other notable donations came from former top Eastern junior, Christina McHale, John McEnroe and the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center.
Those who were personally affected by these natural disasters have been leading the charge. USTA Eastern’s Metro Tennis Service Representative, Gustavo Loza Padilla, is from Mexico City, Mexico. “It’s frustrating being away, seeing everything that was happening on the news and not being able to help.” He also stated that, “Rally for Relief provided me an opportunity to contribute in a small way and brought a lot of other players that wanted to help together. The New York City tennis community’s response was amazing!”
