Tennis tournament to raise funds for cancer research

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The largest charity tennis event in the greater Jacksonville area is back.

SenioRITAs at Sawgrass Women’s Tennis Tournament returns in October after a one-year hiatus due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2020, the RITA Foundation – of which SenioRITAs is a part – chose not to actively seek donations. Still, friends, family and corporations helped to raise $208,104.

“Our sponsors contributed anyway,” said Beverly Roman, a member of the tournament committee. “And we had a wine raffle, which made $5,000.”

Donations allow the foundation to contribute toward Mayo Clinic cancer research, Baptist Medical Center patient programs and “The Buddy Bus,” a mobile mammogram unit for the underserved.

This year, the foundation has added a grant for the DigniCap system, which helps prevent hair loss during chemotherapy.

RITA stands for Research Is The Answer. It is a Jacksonville-based volunteer nonprofit organization, and its mission is to raise awareness and money to help in the fight against all cancers, with emphasis on breast cancer.

The tournament is a three-day event and will be held Oct. 15-17 at the Sawgrass Racquet Club, 9175 Preston Trail East, Ponte Vedra Beach. Its popularity is manifest as nearly 300 women typically participate.

“They come from not just Jacksonville,” said Roman. “They come from Georgia, Tennessee and other states. We’ve had quite a following.”

The women’s doubles tournament is played in divisions by age and level of play. The age groups are 40-54 and 55-plus.

A signature feature of the tournament is the array of pink flags along the tennis walkway, each of which represents a loved one who has been hit by cancer and includes a personal message to that person. This year marks the tournament’s 22nd anniversary.

A kickoff party is planned for 5:30 p.m. Oct. 5 at Pusser’s Bar & Grille, 816 State Road A1A North.

This will be followed by a live and silent auction dinner party from 6 to 9 p.m. Oct. 11 at the new Sawgrass Country Club Golf Clubhouse with a “SenioRITAs in Wonderland” theme.

“There will be seating for everyone, which we haven’t had in the past,” said Roman. “It should be a really nice event.”

There will be a tennis exhibition from 6 to 9 p.m. Oct. 15 at the Sawgrass Racquet Club.

Each year in the United States, 222,000 women and men are diagnosed with breast cancer, and 45,000 die from it. To date, the RITA Foundation has raised more than $5.7 million for local cancer research and patient care. Of that, the tournament – one of three RITA fundraising events – has raised more than $2 million.

“It’s all donated,” said Roman. “Nobody takes a penny. Everybody on the committee is very committed to help eradicate this awful disease.”

To register for the tournament, buy tickets or learn more, go to www.the-rita-foundation.org/senioritas.