On the night of Friday, Jan. 26, 100 tennis gamers and fans — almost all of them wearing dog-themed outfits — gathered on the Wellington Tennis Center to compete in a novel triples tennis event fundraiser.
The event is held yearly as a fundraiser for canine rescue X-Port Paws and as a solution to honor the late Lisa Bowman, who was a tennis fanatic, good friend, teammate, accomplice, daughter, aunt, niece and canine lover.
According to occasion coordinator Liz Stockton, the Lisa Bowman Triples Tennis Tournament raised $15,000 for X-Port Paws, which raises money and consciousness to avoid wasting old dogs, sick dogs, pit bulls, pit mixes, black dogs, discarded dogs and dogs with behavioral points. Rescued dogs are transported to security, to both boarding amenities whereas they await a dedicated rescue or to a foster. Trainers are employed to work with them, in addition to veterinarians to assist them. While the first objective of X-Port Paws is to rescue animals with little to no likelihood of surviving the system, no animal is left behind.
“Our triples tennis tournament brings like-minded people together in a way that she [Bowman] would have loved,” stated Stockton, who was a longtime good friend. “I got to know her not only as a tennis player, but also as a friend and fellow dog lover. We connected on many levels. She was an inspiration.”
Stockton stated that by staging this event for the final 5 years, it helps individuals to recollect Bowman and to assist the well-being of uncared for dogs.
“I think about her all the time. Every time I walk a dog, I think about how she would have loved him or her,” Stockton stated. “And that’s why this triples tennis tournament is so important to me. It’s not just because as a not-for-profit, we depend on donations to survive, but because it keeps Lisa’s spirit alive.”
One of the keys to the success of the occasion is the assist that Stockton receives from the Wellington Tennis Center.
“Thank you to the Village of Wellington and Tennis Director Chuck Gill,” Stockton stated. “I don’t know why Chuck still entertains my insanity, but he does, and he challenges me to go bigger and better every year.”
There was a level of star-power in attendance, as two of the professionals had been former standout professionals on the ATP tour. They had been U.S. tennis greats Harold Solomon and Dick Stockton.
Solomon, often known as a clay courtroom specialist, performed professional tennis in the course of the Nineteen Seventies and Nineteen Eighties. He achieved a career-high world rating of No. 5 in singles in 1980 and No. 4 in doubles in 1976. Over the course of his profession, he gained 22 singles titles. He was a finalist within the males’s singles on the 1975 French Open.
Stockton gained eight professional singles titles and 10 doubles titles from the early Nineteen Seventies to the early Nineteen Eighties. His highest world rating was No. 8. Stockton performed on the U.S. Davis Cup group 5 instances (1973, 1975, 1976, 1977 and 1979). The U.S. gained the Davis Cup in 1979.
The fundamental sponsors of the Lisa Bowman Triples Tennis Tournament included the Village of Wellington; Lytal, Reiter, Smith, Ivey & Fronrath; LIFE PT; BG Squared; Green Girl Garden Design; Junko Fuji Homes; Bluefish Sport; Mobile Tack; Lindburgers; U Mortgage; the Katzman Family; Mamma Mia’s Trattoria; Jake’s Pet Food Delivery; Boots on the Court; Delicia’s Cuban Bakery; Pure Wellness; Scotty’s Sport Shop; Sloan’s; and Wellington High School’s X-Port Paws Club.
“I want to thank all the pros who came to the event after spending hours on their courts all week,” Stockton stated. “They show up with endless energy and make triples even and awesome.”
