The Mardy Fish Children’s Foundation put a spin on the ball during its annual MFCF Tennis Championship, a U.S. Tennis Association Pro Circuit event that is part of the International Tennis Federation World Tennis Tour.
The thwack of the ball echoed with enthusiasm as tennis fans gathered at the Boulevard Tennis Club to watch as ATP-ranked professional players from around the world competed.
“It was so satisfying to have our event return to its traditional April date and continue to raise a lot of money for at-risk children in Indian River County,” said Tom Fish, MFCF Tennis Championship co-tournament director.
His son, Mardy Fish, a former Vero Beach resident and top-10 tennis player who currently serves as captain of the U.S. Davis Cup team, founded the MFCF in 2007 to improve the lives of local children. Proceeds from this week-long tournament fund afterschool programs focused on healthy activities for local school-aged children.
“Our tournament is the longest-running and most prestigious annual sporting event in Vero Beach and really unites the tennis community here. We had so many interesting players competing this year, from players who play Davis Cup for many countries, to an exciting bunch of young teenage Americans, and some wily veterans who are still looking for gasps of glory in professional tennis,” said Fish.
Most notably for local tennis fans, Tuesday night’s match featured pros from area clubs – Quail Valley River Club’s Chase Perez Blanco and Slim Hamza from The Moorings Yacht and Country Club, winner and runner-up of the 2022 King of the Hill Tennis Competition. It was a close match, but in the end they lost to Joshua Sheehy and Jakub Wojcik.
In addition to watching the daily tournaments, attendees enjoyed meals from Counter Culture, purchased raffle tickets and bid on original artwork created by sports artist Ted Dimond, whose layered polymer oil painting technique creates an abstract sense of movement.
Dimond says he uses his love of sports and art to “help bring awareness to something bigger than the sport itself.”
While singles champion Sekou Bangoura, and wild card entry doubles champions Ricardo Rodriguez and Nishesh Basavareddy may have taken home the tournament trophies, the children of Indian River County are ultimately the big winners.
“This was our best year ever,” said Lynn Southerly, MFCF executive director.
She added that they were especially pleased to invite children to the matches who participate in programs funded by the foundation, including Sherwood Farm with the Homeless Children’s Foundation, Youth Guidance, Indian River Golf Foundation’s SNAG Golf, Miss B’s Learning Bees, and the Boys & Girls Clubs.
“We are awarding two individual scholarships for the first time this summer, and then we have our summer grant session opening up. We expect to get record numbers of kids back in these programs,” said Southerly.
Southerly commented that previous events brought mental health issues to the forefront, so they are adding programs that have mental health components to address those needs as part of children’s overall health.
The MFCF currently serves more than 2,400 children in 13 elementary schools, six middle schools, and one high school, with afterschool programs that focus on exercise and nutritional, and enrichment programs that help prepare them for healthy, productive and successful lives.
For more information, visit MardyFishChildrensFoundation.org.
Photos by Kaila Jones
