High school junior, Nick Schwab volunteered for two weeks at Buddy Up Summer Camp 2018 in Sarasota and had so much fun with our Athletes that he wanted to create an event to support them! As a compliment to the games and scoring that he saw on the courts at summer camp, Nick wanted to add even more competition to the mix, and thus the Club Cup was born.
Nick created a Davis Cup Style Round Robin Tennis Tournament to expose our Buddy Up Tennis Sarasota Athletes to match play. Another goal of the two hour tournament was to bring together the Junior Tennis Players, Coaches, and Buddy Up Tennis Athletes of Sarasota! In doing so, he called the tournament the “Club Cup,” and three tennis clubs/academies were represented including Celsius Tennis Academy, Lakewood National Country Club, and IMG Academy. Athletes, Juniors, and Pros were divided into teams and each team member was given the opportunity to play doubles with the Buddy Up Tennis Sarasota Athlete on their team.
Although there was a competitive theme, the tournament was not about winning or losing, but rather about teamwork. According to Nick, the best parts of the event centered around the team interactions, “My favorite moment from the tournament was probably when the teams arrived and everyone got to meet each other. The team members immediately supported each other, and everyone became so excited. Everyone seemed proud to be on their team, and ready to do whatever it takes to help their teammates out.”
For the Athletes, the Club Cup not only introduced them to new friends in the tennis community, but also exposed them to matchplay. At Buddy Up Tennis, we teach Athletes of all ages and abilities scoring, games, and point play, so the Club Cup was a nice compliment to our weekly tennis and fitness clinics. Family members were amazed at the progress of the Athletes throughout the two hours, “Watching Sarah begin to understand the partnership in doubles throughout the evening was amazing, I can only imagine her understanding after more doubles opportunities and club cup events,” said Allison Davis, sister of Athlete, Sarah Davis.
The goal of the Club Cup was twofold, to introduce our Athletes to local Juniors and Coaches and to share more of the competitive side of tennis with our Athletes. Game, Set, Match- Nick achieved his goals and more, as we look forward to holding more round robin doubles evenings in Sarasota with our Athletes and local junior players.