Summer 2017 consisted of forty enthusiastic tennis instructors and three highly qualified supervisors, servicing eighteen sites and welcoming over 9,000 campers into the program. We also included 37 volunteer tennis instructors ranging in age from 15 to 30 who clocked over 2000 hours of volunteerism.
This year the Toronto Sports Leadership program was available to the 15 and 16 year old who live in priority needs neighbourhoods and volunteered at our sites. The youth helped out with the younger children and spent time each day working with our instructors to reach a 3.0 level of tennis ability. The successful participants will work with the City of Toronto throughout the winter and attend seminars on childcare, first aid, resume writing and interview techniques. In January and February, thanks to free tennis court time given to us by the Scarborough Winter Tennis Club, we will be able to offer lessons to these volunteers helping them become Tennis Canada Level 1 certification ready. Once ready, if they qualify, they receive financial assistance from Tennis Canada and Philpott to ensure they can attend the certification course.
In 2017 100% of our candidates passed the Tennis Canada certification course held during the March break. Once a youth receives their Level One certification, we offer them paid employment as Philpott tennis instructors. This summer six of our Philpott instructors came through this program. They taught tennis in the neighbourhoods where they grew up, having learned their first tennis as Philpott campers. They are exceptional leaders and mentors to the younger children.
We are thankful for the support of the Toronto tennis community, individual donors and Toronto’s largest private tennis clubs, namely The Boulevard Club, The Cricket Club, The Granite Club, The Toronto Badminton and Racquet Club and The Toronto Lawn Tennis Club. This year our major financial partners include Tennis Canada, Canadian Tire Jumpstart Charities, the Philpott Ladies Invitational (hosted by The Boulevard Club in 2017 and the Granite Club in 2018), the Tennis-A-Thon tournaments, the Leaside Tennis Club, the Davisville Tennis Club, the Toronto Lawn Tennis Club, The Trinity College Tennis Club, the CIBC Children’s Miracle, the Charles Johnson Foundation, the Gooder Foundation, and the Daniel Nestor Foundation. We are always extremely grateful to Head Canada, Wilson Sport, RacquetGuys and The Merchant of Tennis. Once again the Racquet Donation Program was a tremendous success and with the support of Toronto tennis players, we gave away over 500 racquets and a new can of tennis balls for each gifted racquet.
None of these amazing successes would happen without the hard work and dedication of a huge number of people. Philpott is a grass roots charity supported by tennis players who want to give back to a sport that has made such a difference in their lives. Today we come together to honour these people who have worked so hard to ensure the success of the Philpott organization and help us make a difference in the lives of children living in priority needs neighbourhoods.
Philpott Appreciation Barbeque Says Thank You To…
Bob, Ellen and Coulter Wright for being our gracious and generous hosts
The Hardworking Philpott Board of Directors – Jennifer Bishop – Chair, Eleanor O’ Gorman – Vice Chair, Sharon Arnold – Tennis Program (Philpott founding Board member), Arlen Sternberg – Legal Council, Adam Borovilos – Accountant, Kosty Gilis and Sophie Ronan – Fundraising, Peter Malcomson – OTA and Richard Crowell – TC.
Tennis Committee – Eleanor O’Gorman, Sharon Arnold, Simon Bartram, Sophie Ronan, Jenny Somerset, Beth Dea, Rachel Gould
Fundraising Committee – Kosty Gilis and Sophie Ronan
Fundraising Events
- Philpott Ladies Invitational 2017 (hosted by the Boulevard Club) Paul Cairns
- Philpott Ladies Invitational 2018 (hosted by the Granite Club) Timm Fisher
- Davisville Tennis Club – Heather Brooks, Glen and Liz Thomas, Stuart Teather, Allison Sharpe, Alistair Millar, Jeff and Tarah Holz
- Leaside Tennis Club – Anthony Olivera, Rita Lee, Ryan Chow
- Tennis-A-Thon
- Cricket Club – Sophie Ronan, Pauline Noteboom, Caroline Killeen, Karen Leonard, Laura Borza, Claudia Voicu, Nicola Von Schroeter, Livia Hunter
- TLTC – Simon Bartram, Jennifer Bishop, Haley Gilis, Jeannine Volpe, Claire Gordon
- Granite Club – Timm Fisher
- Men’s Doubles tournament – Peter Giacomelli, Kosty Gilis, Daniel Nestor, Casey Curtis
- Foundations
- Daniel Nester Foundation – represented by Daniel Nester
- Charles Johnson Foundation – represented by Philip Johnson
- Gooder Foundation – represented by Gordon Sproule
- Canadian Tire Jumpstart Funding – represented by Lori Gagnon
Tennis Equipment Providers
- Head Canada – Tammie Sangster, Jeff Bardsley
- Merchant of Tennis – Rob and Pam Horwood
- Wilson Sport – Doug Coombs, Blair Rickers
- RacquetGuys – Troy Russell
- Jane Mitchell (clothing)
Trinity College Tennis Club – George Gaicopoulos, Margaret Hoffman, Michael Huynh
Finance Committee – Adam Borovilos, Coulter Wright, Rob Horwood
Tennis Canada Representatives – Michael Downey, Richard Crowell
Ontario Tennis Association Representatives – Jim Boyce, Peter Malcomson
Database Management – Paul Lemsky
Website Management – Philip Willow
Financial Services – Simon Zhong (Proccounting), Sunny Sanghera (Huron Partners LLP)
Philpott Summer Supervisors – Chris Steward, Ricky Chee, Alan Brown
