River Hills Club will play host for the 20th year to the USTA $25,000 Women’s Challenger, the state’s only Women’s professional tennis tournament. The $25,000 Women’s Challenger is a mid-level professional women’s tournament held in April. The WTA tour is set up with Tour Events on top, Challenger events, and then Futures events on the bottom and the four Grand Slam tournaments at the very top. “The Challenger Tournament falls under the USTA Pro Circuit,” sayys Dave Randall, Director of Tennis and Head Tennis Pro at River Hills Club. “It is one of about 90 tournaments held in the US and is the 2nd longest running active women’s tournament.”
Each year, 32 women compete for WTA ranking points and total prize money of $25,000/ “We have qualifying tournament the weekend before the help fill the 32 draw,” says Dave. “The top 20 women that enter get in automatically, then there are 8 qualifiers, and then the USTA has 3 wild cards to give to whoever they want and I have 1 to give to whoever I want.”
Since 2011, Catholic Charities has assisted with the event. “We help secure sponsors and we also work with Dave Randall and his staff to plan the special events for the week,” says Julie O’Brien of Catholic Charities. “We do Community Outreach for the event also. In 2017, we had around 60 kids from the inner city schools come to watch the tournament and learn more about tennis,” says Julie. “Many of these kids have never played or even been exposed to tennis and this is a great opportunity for them to learn about the rules of tennis and also about the life of professional tennis players. In fact, several kids from Rowan Middle School came to the tournament one year and because of their exposure to the tournament, they started their own tennis team!”
The tournament is sponsored by St. Dominic’s and Sanderson Farms and it benefits Catholic Charities and their mission which includes 23 different programs throughout Mississippi. There are many events during the week of the tournament and fun for the entire family including Pro/ Am events, Kids Day, sponsor parties, player parties, and feature matches each night of the tournament. All events are free and open to the public. “We encourage everyone to come out and watch some for the top women compete for the money. You could be watching the next up and coming tennis star,” smiles Dave.
Written by Jill Dale
To find out more about the tournament you can visit www.riverhillsclub.net
Each year, 32 women compete for WTA ranking points and total prize money of $25,000/ “We have qualifying tournament the weekend before the help fill the 32 draw,” says Dave. “The top 20 women that enter get in automatically, then there are 8 qualifiers, and then the USTA has 3 wild cards to give to whoever they want and I have 1 to give to whoever I want.”
Since 2011, Catholic Charities has assisted with the event. “We help secure sponsors and we also work with Dave Randall and his staff to plan the special events for the week,” says Julie O’Brien of Catholic Charities. “We do Community Outreach for the event also. In 2017, we had around 60 kids from the inner city schools come to watch the tournament and learn more about tennis,” says Julie. “Many of these kids have never played or even been exposed to tennis and this is a great opportunity for them to learn about the rules of tennis and also about the life of professional tennis players. In fact, several kids from Rowan Middle School came to the tournament one year and because of their exposure to the tournament, they started their own tennis team!”
The tournament is sponsored by St. Dominic’s and Sanderson Farms and it benefits Catholic Charities and their mission which includes 23 different programs throughout Mississippi. There are many events during the week of the tournament and fun for the entire family including Pro/ Am events, Kids Day, sponsor parties, player parties, and feature matches each night of the tournament. All events are free and open to the public. “We encourage everyone to come out and watch some for the top women compete for the money. You could be watching the next up and coming tennis star,” smiles Dave.
Written by Jill Dale
To find out more about the tournament you can visit www.riverhillsclub.net
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