CHARLESTON – Charleston attorney Charles R. "Rusty" Webb donated several tennis rackets to the Martin Luther King Jr. Community Center in Charleston last week in the hopes it will get children interested in different sports.
Webb donated eight tennis rackets so that children on the West Side and East End could have the same opportunity to play tennis, a sport he enjoys.
"I play basketball at the King Center every Tuesday and Thursday," Webb said in an interview with The West Virginia Record. "I’ve been playing there for years with an adult group of men and I have been around the kids and there are a number of underprivileged kids who go there."
Charles R. "Rusty" Webb
Webb said children are traditionally geared toward sports like football and basketball.
"I would like to see them at least have the opportunity to become exposed to another sport, like tennis, which I have played all my life into my adulthood," Webb said. "I had the opportunity to purchase some tennis rackets and then I had some of my own that I no longer used."
Webb said he donated them in the hopes that having them would allow the King Center and its staff to introduce kids to tennis.
"Eventually, I’d like to see them introduced to golf," Webb said. "I’m not a golfer, but I’d like to see someone donate golf equipment as well."
Webb said he thinks basketball and football are temporary sports but tennis and golf are forever sports.
"They are also geared toward the business community, and I’d like to see that type of sport being introduced down there," Webb said.
Webb said there are many scholarships available for great tennis players coming out of high school.
"I hope that the next Serena Williams, Arthur Ashe, Venus Williams, Sloane Stephens, Madison Keys, John Isner or Michael Chang will come from our city," Webb said.
King Center has a boxing room with a ring, an indoor basketball court, a weight room, a baseball field, an outdoor tennis court, a pool and play areas. It was established in 1978.
Webb is a personal injury and divorce attorney with The Webb Law Firm in Charleston.