September 13, 2012 marked our 6th annual charity tennis tournament pitting venture capitalists against entrepreneurs on the grass courts in Chestnut Hill.
At stake? Another year's bragging rights. A combination of Ryder Cup meets Davis Cup meets... a half-day out of the office playing hooky for a great cause.
What made this year special?
The weather: A perfect 75 degree, zero-humidity, crystal-blue fall day.
The turnout: 40+ tennis players making up 20 doubles teams, paired as investors or entrepreneurs.
Nic Bollettieri coaching VC and Entrepreneur team membersThe tennis legend: Silicon Valley Bank, one of the event's charter underwriters since our first year, inspired the players and the greater Boston tennis community by bringing in Nick Bollettieri for half-hour coaching sessions with players, family, and enthusiasts. Throughout the day more than 30 aspiring junior and adult players participated in a series of clinics and learned from Nick's coaching expertise while listening to Nick’s anecdotes of top ranked players. Nick Bollettieri is best known for the IMG Bollettieri Tennis Academy in Maitland, Florida. The Academy has produced players like Pete Sampras, Jim Courier, Maria Sharapova, Andre Agassi, Venus & Serena Williams and other pro tour all-stars.
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The venue: The grass courts in Chestnut Hill. Simply stated, it is New England's Wimbledon. More than two dozen meticulously cared for grass courts in perfect condition, tempting players to take off their shoes and play barefoot.
The cause: All 6 years, we have had Tenacity as the charity beneficiary. Tenacity's mission-- to use a specialized tennis program as a fulcrum to create discipline and academic stick-to-it-iveness in at-risk urban youth. Founded in 1999, Ned Eames, Tenacity's founder and Executive Director, has built a program that has served over 30,000 Boston students with its high quality school-year and summer programs. Their aim is to impart the skills and resilience needed for under-served youth to succeed in school and life. The Boston school system high school graduation rate is approximately 65%. Tenacity supercharges this rate to more than 95% for those children enrolled in the Tenacity program.
The tournament structure & the outcome: Each of the Entrepreneur and Investors teams was made up of approximately 10 doubles teams. These teams play 4 half-hour matches. Each doubles team totals up their number of games won. The doubles team with the highest game score from each of the Investors and Entrepreneurs play a "Finals Match" for bragging rights on the front Club Court while the rest of the diaspora cheers their respective sides. This year (as last) the Entrepreneurs won the day. Playing on behalf of the Entrepreneur winning team was Chuck Dornbush, Founder & Chairman of Athenium Software, and Andrea Gabrielle, Founder & CEO of NeptuneWeb.
The underwriters: The success of the event and its fundraising goals would never be achieved without the support & participation of our underwriters. This year, underwriters included Silicon Valley Bank, Burns & Levinson, Grant Thornton, Weston Racquet Club, BSG Team Ventures, Xconomy, & CHEN Public Relations.
Thank you's: Special thanks goes to Silicon Valley Bank, and Jim Maynard, Mike Descheneaux, and Sam Warburg, for bringing Nick Bolletierri to the tournament; it was a flash of creativity and generosity that made this year truly special. Thanks also go to Brandon Bach of Infusionique who quenched our thirsty palates with his delicious hand-crafted spirits. And of course, the event would never have happened if it weren't for the passion, commitment, and steady hand of Karla Franco, majordomo for all aspects of event management.
