The Gilmer County Optimist Club is looking for teams to take to the courts for its first fundraising tennis tournament.
The inaugural Justin Elliott Memorial Tennis Tournament will raise money for future Gilmer Optimist Club projects Saturday and Sunday, June 12-13. Check-in starts at 8:30 p.m.
The primary purpose of the local Optimists International chapter is to do community service projects benefiting the county’s children and youth.
Justin Elliott was an avid tennis player, who played on the Gilmer Middle and High school teams and also competed in several U.S. Tennis Association tournaments. He also volunteered for numerous community service projects including the Gilmer Community Food Pantry, said Elliott’s mother, Ellen Grant, a Gilmer Optimist.
Shortly after graduating from GHS in 2008, Elliott was diagnosed with glioblastoma multiforme, a malignant form of brain cancer. He continued to attend classes at the University of Georgia, where he was an honor student, as long as he was able. Elliott passed away in 2011 at age 21.
Named in his honor, the Justin Elliott Memorial tennis Tournament will be sponsored by Gilmer Parks and Recreation and the Mountain Tennis Association, which includes players from Gilmer, Pickens and other north Georgia counties. It will feature competition in the form of men’s and women’s doubles.
Matches will be played at both the park and rec tennis courts near the Civic Center and the GHS courts on the high school campus. Anyone who enjoys playing tennis can register. Participants don’t have to be part of any club or association, Grant noted.
“We’ll be able to field 64 players in mens and womens doubles. If you win Saturday, you will go on to play again on Sunday,” she added.
Teams have until the end of May to sign up, and players must be age 18 or older. Registration can be completed online at FidGrit.com/tournament/optimisttennis1.
The $35 entry fee includes a T-shirt, goody bag and snacks, as well as a Saturday lunch and Sunday breakfast. Winning teams will receive trophies, Grant said.
“We need players. That’s our biggest thing right now,” Grant said.
“There will be a women’s winner and runner-up and a men’s winner and runner-up.”
New tennis courts have become a popular addition to the recently updated recreation options at River Park. Pickleball courts are also now available for play there.
“There are three (tennis) courts, and they’re getting good use. We’ve got quite a group here in Gilmer County that’s starting to play,” Grant noted.
Another Optimist Club fundraiser, which will benefit the food pantry’s Sack Pack weekend food program for elementary school students, will be held in September, Grant said. Along with Sack Pack, the local Optimists also support such youth-centric organizations as the Three Rivers Boys and Girls Club, Gilmer Kids Kottage, Appalachian Children’s Center, the Ellijay Police Foundation Shop With a Hero program and its own Stuff the Bus school supply drive, which will also be held this year.
The upcoming tennis tournament will provide both a new fundraiser for the club and an alternative to the popular charity golf tournament, Grant noted.
“Last year, we had the world’s longest yard sale that lasted from March-September. We wanted to do a fundraiser that would give us money that stays in the county so we would have more ways to help out the community,” she added.