Philpott Ladies Invitational Tournament Press Release
January 26th, 2017.
The Boulevard Club is proud to announce that the 33rd annual Philpott Ladies Invitational Tournament presented by CIBC in support of the Doug Philpott Inner City Children’s Tennis Fund was a sold out success! This two-day tournament and gala, held January 25thand 26th, 2017 was attended by over 230 tennis enthusiasts and Philpott supporters. Generous sponsors included Fidelity, EY, Myko Mechanical, Hydropool, Collins Barrow Toronto LLP, Royal LePage Babiak, Wilson Sport and Consultec.
With Paul Cairns Tennis Director at The Boulevard Club as host of the Gala themed “Winter Wonderland”, this event raised over $50,000 for Toronto’s priority needs children. It takes only $25 to send a child to camp for a week, so this event will give even more children a chance to try tennis and to keep busy this summer. This is huge for the charity and ultimately for the children. A big thank you goes out to the hard work of The Boulevard Club tennis pros and staff and the Philpott Ladies Invitational committee. The committee consisted of Geraldine Rossiter, Joanne Willson, Cierra Watson, Adrienne Teron, Chantal Roberge, Dee Hampson, Helene Lavigne, Jenny Ryley Levitt, Jan Chepesiuk, Kate Ruby, Lisa Tremaine, Michelle Wheeler, Roma Dubczak, Wendy Turpin and Kimberly Hacuman.
Thursday night was Winter Wonderland Gala. The gala was a time to meet and greet opponents and friends, enjoy a delicious dinner and bid on some fabulous silent auction items. The high point of the evening was a live auction item which included two tickets anywhere WestJet flies and two days of tickets to the Indian Wells tennis tournament. All the fun and excitement of the evening was captured by photographer Kim Lowes.
In addition an outstanding video was produced by Unikron featuring the Philpott Tennis program. This video can be viewed at https://player.vimeo.com/video/200828095
This year there were 9 divisions of competition, with four teams per division for a total of 36 teams. Thank you to the following clubs for providing court time and refreshments for the tournament: The Granite Club, The Cricket Club, The Toronto Lawn Tennis Club, The Boulevard Club, Lambton Golf and Country Club, The Badminton and Racquet Club, The Donalda Club and York Racquets. The rivalry was fierce but fun, because at the end of the day, everyone realized they were part of something much bigger than a two day tennis tournament. They were providing opportunities for children to play tennis in priority needs areas of the city. They were giving back to a sport they love by making it possible for Philpott to expand and welcome a growing number of children into the program.
In 2017, the Philpott Children’s Fund will be providing 19 tennis camps to over 8,500 inner city children in Toronto’s priority needs neighbourhoods, offering them a fun, challenging alternative to summer inactivity. Through the generosity of donors and partners, qualified instructors help Philpott Kids learn more than tennis – they learn valuable lessons about physical fitness, leadership, cooperation, discipline and self-confidence.
The Philpott Board of Directors, the instructors, the volunteers and the children say thank you!