October 15, 2006
Austin Tennis Academy Grand Slam Shootout Recap
Once a year the Austin Tennis Academy community bands together with the purpose of charity fund-raising. This year’s event took place the weekend of September 30-October 1, 2006. The Austin Tennis Academy Scholarship Shootout was an unqualified success. The Austin Athletic Scholarship Foundation, A Glimmer of Hope Foundation and San Juan Diego School will all share in the net proceeds from the Shootout auction and Calcutta tournament.
This event is important for our community as it teaches us, in a very tangible and real sense how to give back.
The specific highlights are abundant. The evening preceding the tennis was held at the Austin Tennis Academy Fitness Center and included a dinner, Calcutta, Live and Silent auctions. Eliot Blatt got everyone in the giving mood with his speech and subsequent donation to A Glimmer of Hope Foundation of $4,000. It was an inspiring evening hearing from Donna Berber and David Porter of A Glimmer of Hope Foundation. The videos of water projects in Ethiopia and the video of Camp Glimmer here in Austin were both heartwarming. Hearing from Boris Barrios a past recipient of training and travel grants allowed us to see the level of excellence and level of accomplishment of our players. Ashley Weinhold’s talk about her experiences at the US OPEN were also inspiring for these level of excellence and accomplishment she has pursued and gained this past year.
Father Jayme Mathias of San Juan Diego School was electrifying with his talk about the school and his stories about the students’ lives who are being transformed.
The Austin Tennis Academy players did a great job with their partners, engaging in fun competition all day on Sunday at Lakecliff Racquet Club.
Sunday saw perfect conditions at Lakecliff Racquet Club. The matches were contested on Lakecliff’s 3 Grand Slam surfaces – hard courts, red clay and a grass court. With 80 players playing on 8 courts, everyone got to play on a variety of surfaces during the day. As the matches went on, it became clear that two unheralded teams would be making it to the finals: Coach Kendall Brooks’ team and Bret Powers’ Shots.
Each team consisted of 5 lines of doubles and the finals pitted these two teams playing against one another in a single super tie-breaker. After taking the first two tiebreakers in the finals, Powers’ Shots were poised for a sweep. But, showing the fight that got them to the finals, Coach Brooks’ team fought back to tie the match at 2-2. Thus the 2006 Grand Slam Shootout came down to this: one super tiebreaker. The Powers’ Shots ended up victorious on the court, but the real winners were the charities!!
Players uniformly had a fun time at the event, working hard to be serious in their competition, but also having a lot of fun.
We would like to thank each of our community partners, our sponsors and each of you who participated and made this event what is was. The Austin Tennis Academy is committed to giving back and it shows every year. We are already planning for the 2007 Shootout and continuing to grow our commitment to our charities. Until next year, keep up the great work and see you out on the courts…
Coach Trey Phillips
Tournament Director
Grand Slam Shootout
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