Owen Schlosser - student, tennis ace and coach lost his life to cancer in 2009. This tournament honours Owen's sport legacy and promotes excellence in student-athletes in tennis.
Remembrance, competition, fundraising and plenty of fun converged to make the second annual Owen Schlosser World Tennis Tournament in May a rousing success, says organizer Camilla Knight, a doctoral alumna of the faculty, and sessional instructor.
"Last year we raised $13, 000 for the endowment fund but this year we decided to set our sights much higher, aiming to raise $20,000. We weren't always confident that we would reach it, but we actually raised more than $21,000. The support we receive from the tennis community for this event is amazing and testament to what Owen contributed to the tennis community within and beyond Edmonton," Knight said.
An enterprising grad, Knight has been a leading force, with Carson Bell, a tennis professional at the Saville Community Sports Centre, to keep alive the memory of Owen Schlosser, ace Golden Bear tennis player and former U of A student who lost his life to cancer just shy of his 22nd birthday. They also aim to raise funds annually to provide financial assistance to the university's high performance tennis teams to help student-athletes achieve their athletic potential.
"This year we had 163 tennis players join in, ranging from some of the top junior players in the country and highest ranked senior players in Alberta to regularly competing players and complete novices," said Knight. "Many of the players had competed last year, but a number of new people also entered, including a number of players who travel from Calgary for the event."
Participants shrugged off the snow flurries at the start of the competition to take part in the four-division tournament, comprising a "showcase division to highlight the tennis talent in Alberta, a competitive event for players who regularly compete in tournaments, an intermediate event aimed at the recreational tennis players, and a novice event to encourage new players to try their hand at tennis," said Knight.
Winners of the events were:
- Showcase team: "Yanos Aerospace" - comprising current and former members of the Bears and Pandas tennis team, local tennis coaches, the Pandas assistant coach and a number of nationally ranked juniors
- Competitive Event: "Evan, Adrian, and the Pretty People" - a team comprised of current and Golden Bears and Pandas alumni
- Intermediate Event: "Super Smash Bros" - a team made up mostly of one family!
- Novice Event: "Just a bunch of Aces" -including staff, players and coaches from the Saville Community Sports Centre
"Watching players of all standards come together to have fun, take part in the event and most importantly pay tribute to Owen Schlosser was definitely a highlight and wonderful that we could once again pay tribute to Owen's legacy as an exemplary player and coach," said Knight.
Players and student-athletes weren't the only winners. Charities focused on health and wellness also benefited. A donation of $1500 was made to the Save Your Skin Foundation which raises awareness of skin cancer and aims to stamp out melanoma, and $500 to Life into Days, an organization focused on educating young adults with chronic disease about exercise, nutrition and other life skills to enhance their quality of life.
Sponsors for the event included Gail Burke Orthodontics, First Truck Centre, Pennock Acheson Nielsen Devancy, Yanos Aerospace, Metro Market, Norden Autohaus, priMED Medical Products, Victoria Trail Physiotherapy, and Yonex.
Tournament photos courtesy of Don Voaklander.