The second edition of the Baha Mar Cup presented by Bahamian tennis legend Mark Knowles wrapped up this past weekend. Several professional tennis players came in and participated in the activities over the weekend, including a full Saturday at the Baha Mar Racquet Club.
On hand, of course, was Knowles, who was joined by former number one women’s tennis player Victoria Azarenka. Other tennis legends such as Cliff Drysdale, Patrick McEnroe, Andy Roddick and James Blake also came down to support the event.
“We’re super excited to be back at the second edition here at Baha Mar. It’s an incredible place to have the event and, once again, tremendous support from the players … I love giving back to my country and especially to the youth of this country. I think it’s important every year to continue to grow, try to have a bigger and better event each year,” Knowles said.
The Baha Mar Foundation donated $57,500 to the Mark Knowles Foundation at the event. President of Baha Mar Graeme Davis presented the check to Knowles.
“We hope that all the funds being raised will go directly to our partner here, Mark Knowles and the Mark Knowles Foundation,” Davis said. “We hope it’s truly direct funding to help the children of The Bahamas and the kids that want to improve their lives and make a difference. Certainly, putting racquets in hands and improving the tennis courts here in Nassau, New Providence, and creating programming.
“All these funds are going to go directly to that through Mark Knowles and what a great partner we have with a tennis legend like Mark and what he’s done here throughout the years in supporting youth tennis. It’s incredible what he’s done already. We’re just so proud that we could partner with Mark and create this partnership to help raise additional funds and work towards the betterment of the of the kids here and in The Bahamas.”
A grateful Knowles said the donation is very important and will be used to help toward the development of youth tennis.
“It’s super important, especially for my Mark Knowles Tennis Bahamas,” Knowles said. “We have about 50 kids and we have four or five local pros that are amazing. Obviously, my name gets the credit, but you know, it’s the people you surround yourself with. They’re putting in the hard work day in, day out, and building a foundation for the kids.
“I’ve funded a lot of kids to go over to some academies. Now, we have my initiative, Mark Knowles Tennis Bahamas. We also have the Albany Tennis Academy, so we are getting better locally with having opportunities for kids. Sometimes they go abroad and play tournaments and that costs money. We’ve had a couple of kids going to college to play for NCAA Division I schools, and that’s our impetus. That’s our motivation just to give kids a chance. All of these funds, you know, doesn’t happen without it – the support of Baha Mar, the support of the sponsors or the players and it’s a full team.”
Saturday morning saw Knowles and the other pros conduct a youth clinic for the children. They also played in pro-am exhibition matches.
“Everyone had a really tough time in the last 18 months. Not just here in the Bahamas but worldwide, and full credit goes to Baha Mar, all the sponsors and all the players. It’s still hard in this environment to organize events, to get things going, with the pandemic.
“It seems like a long time ago, 2019, before the pandemic and when we could just roam freely. It’s great to see this many kids because that’s what it’s about for all of us – to see the smiles. We have a legendary chef here in Marcus Samuelsson and the first thing he said was this is the highlight to see this many kids, to see the smiles on their face just to see the excitement and the passion. It gives me great joy to partner with Baha Mar and put on a function like this and continue to support the youth.”
Blake and Roddick were at the first edition of the Baha Mar Cup in 2019. Blake, a former top-five world-ranked player, was happy to be in The Bahamas to support the initiative again.
“This is an unbelievable event. Mark Knowles did such a great job and we’re happy to just be a part of it. We got a little better weather this time, so I’m excited to actually get to play some tennis,” Blake said.
Roddick, a former US Open champion, echoed the same sentiments as Blake.
“Mark done a great job and, you know, you see you do a lot of these events over the years and not a lot have the staying power that Mark has had. It’s always nice to be asked, and it’s always nice to be able to show up for a friend and for a cause.”
Sporting events such as these help with occupancy in hotels and Senior Vice President at Baha Mar Robert ‘Sandy’ Sands said the event came at a time when tourism is on a rebound.
“Having events like this helped not only to allow Baha Mar to give back to the community. It also helped to propel the destination and our property in being diversified and having a variety of events that will take place. What is good about this is it’s happening on the heels as we’re rebounding in tourism and showing that the destination is alive and open and welcoming these types of events,” Sands said.
The first-ever Baha Mar Cup was held in November 2019 and raised more than $100,000 to directly benefit those affected by Hurricane Dorian in The Bahamas through the Baha Mar Foundation.
The post Baha Mar Cup wraps up appeared first on The Nassau Guardian.
source https://thenassauguardian.com/baha-mar-cup-wraps-up/
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