Tom Fish and Lynn Southerly. PHOTO BY JOSHUA KODIS

Tennis fans and competitors weathered numerous storms during what turned out to be a wet but exceptional week of play at the Mardy Fish Children’s Foundation Tennis Championships USTA Pro Circuit ITF World Tennis Tour, held this year at the Vero Beach Tennis & Fitness Club.

“While this is the third different venue where we have hosted this event, one thing remains the same, and that is the players continue to tell us that this is the best Futures level tennis tournament in the world,” said Tom Fish, MFCF president emeritus and Mardy’s father.

“Vero Beach is just such a great tennis town, maybe the best tennis town in the country.

This is the 29th straight year that this tournament has been held here, and we are looking forward to many more,” he added.

The tournament is the nonprofit’s largest fundraising event, with proceeds supporting healthy afterschool and summer activities for local children. The programs encourage active lifestyles and promote “Mardy’s Six Healthy Habits: Get Sleep, Exercise Daily, Drink Water, Brush and Floss, Eat Healthy and Make Friends.”

And while the blustery rain did cause delays nearly every day, MFCF volunteers and the Vero Beach Tennis staff made the best of it, pivoting each day to work around whatever Mother Nature threw or blew at them.

Despite the soggy conditions, Lynn Southerly, MFCF executive director, said the event raised more money for the organization than ever before thanks to sponsorships and a massive effort by the board.

Southerly noted the addition of a food truck, bar service and vendors this year, which attendees appreciated, and students from several of the programs funded by the foundation attended the matches and enjoyed talking with players and supporters.

Mardy Fish, a silver medalist in the 2004 Athens Olympics, reached a career-best ranking of No. 7 before retiring from the tennis tour in 2015. He founded the MFCF in 2007 and it has continued to grow ever since.

“We are helping over 2,000 children a year,” said Southerly, adding that their programming has now ramped back up to pre-COVID levels, with new programs being added with each new grant cycle.

Underserved children engage in activities that align with the nonprofit’s mission to encourage participation in safe and impactful fitness, nutritional and enrichment programs, with a goal toward living healthy and productive lives.

The MFCF provides funding to nonprofits, including the Homeless Children’s Foundation, the Boys and Girls Clubs, Youth Guidance, the Sally Wilkey Foundation, and Miss B’s Learning Bees, and, coordinating with the school district, provides fourth-grade, fifth-grade and middle school tennis, and funds numerous cheerleading programs and the Treasure Coast Elementary School Garden Club.

Dan Martin of Canada and the University of Miami ultimately took home the ITF World Tennis Tour Championship title.

For more information, visit MardyFishChildrensFoundation.org.

Photos by Joshua Kodis