INDIAN RIVER COUNTY — The closing night of the King of the Hill Tennis Tournament already has its share of excitement as the finals for the open division bring out some of the best tennis of the year.
For the past two years, the finals have been made even more noteworthy as the Gigi Casapu Scholarship is awarded to kick off the night’s activities.
The scholarship is awarded to a teenager who has been enrolled in a Youth Guidance mentoring program, is graduating from high school, and has been accepted at a college or university. The scholarship is named to recognize the founder and tournament director of King of the Hill, Gigi Casapu.
Casapu is the Tennis Director at Cascades St. Lucie West, and a colleague and mentor to many of the players and pros on the Treasure Coast. He first organized the King of the Hill Tournament in 1996, in honor of his brother Jonny Casapu, who was killed in a car accident while visiting family in Romania. Jonny Casapu was himself a world-class tennis professional.
The scholarship recipient this year was Raliyah Dawson, who is pictured receiving the $1,000 scholarship with her mother Katina Gibson and Casapu. Dawson will be graduating from high school this spring, and has been accepted at Florida Gulf Coast University, where she will begin classes in the fall.
This was the 21st year for King of the Hill, and during that time the tournament has netted $318,000 to benefit the children involved in Youth Guidance mentoring programs.
Casapu has worked tirelessly over two decades to build the King of the Hill Tournament into one of the most anticipated events of the year. Presenting an annual scholarship in his name helps to link his efforts directly to the future success of one of the hundreds of children he has helped.
