Sports

Annual pro tennis tourney in Camilla kicks off today

Scott Chancey

CAMILLA — The Mitchell County Pro Tennis Invitational is back in the swing of things — this time, for the 33rd consecutive year.

The event, held today-Sunday at the Mitchell-Baker Service Center, not only is full of tennis and fellowship, the proceeds raised go for causes such the mental retardation center, Mitchell County Boys & Girls Club (in Camilla and Pelham), Southwest Georgia Technical College and the Mitchell County Food Bank.

“With this being our 33rd year, that’s a long time to do anything,” said Eddie Williamson, tournament director. “That’s a long time to be alive, really. When we stared out, we had some high school kids help out and now they are around 50 years old. It’s a funny feeling.”

The tennis is only part of the package which makes this weekend’s event a powerful draw for tennis professionals. There also are the evening socials.

“I’ve been here more than 20 times,” said Armi Neely, who will be inducted into the Georgia Tennis Hall of Fame later this year. “The event has evolved so well. Kudos to Eddie, he has done a remarkable job. He has a wonderful formula that everybody has fun.”

A juniors clinic will be held at 4 p.m. today, one for women is 10:30 a.m. Saturday with a “Beat the Pro” contest later that day at 1:30 p.m. Among the other players scheduled to participate in the event are former UCLA All-American Roy Barth, former Jennifer Capriati coach Jose Campos, ex-Georgia star Stephen Enochs and ex-Georgia Tech standout Matt Cozad.

The format of the competition will be reverse Davis Cup (two doubles matches, one singles) with just more than $3,000 being divided among the five members of the winning team.

Williamson said that, during the 33-year history, around $1 million have been donated to charity, and more than $60,000 is expected to be raised this year. More than $40,000 of that money is going to charity.

“Outside of Atlanta and Columbus, there is no tennis program that compares to ours in the state of Georgia,” Williamson said.

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