CHARLESTON — A Charleston attorney is sponsoring a college women's tennis tournament in Charleston next month that will also include a fundraiser for middle school and high school tennis teams.
Rusty Webb of The Webb Law Centre said in 2019 five colleges, including West Virginia University and Marshall University, were having a tennis tournament and he felt it should be turned into a big event with a lot of promotion so people could come and support the players.
"We decided to make this a destination event," Webb said in an interview with The West Virginia Record. "We were working on the planning for it for 2020, but with COVID we ended up not being able to have the event. But we kept on planning so we could have the event this year."
Webb
Marshall and WVU are co-hosting the event.
"We want this to be as close to a professional event as possible," Webb said. "We're making this like a festival. We're going to have music being played between sets and we're going to have vendors."
Webb said it will be like a tennis tournament inside and a festival outside.
"I invited all of the Kanawha County tennis teams to come and pitch a tent to raise money for their teams," Webb said. "We also have a massage therapist coming for the players."
Webb said he also invited all middle and high school teams across the state so that they can raise money for their teams.
"I want this to inspire kids to consider non-traditional sports — something different from just football or basketball," Webb said.
The event will occur Sept. 24 through 26. WVU and Marshall will be the last two teams to play Sept. 26.
"The winner of that match will receive the Mayor's Cup," Webb said. "Mayor Amy Shuler Goodwin has been so helpful through all of this, and so the Mayor's Cup will be placed in her office."
The event will be held at the Kanawha City Recreation Center.
"I'm all about philanthropy," Webb said. "That is my passion — that is where my heart is. If I could spend all of my time helping underprivileged kids, that's what I would do."
Teams playing in the event this year are Marshall, WVU, West Virginia State University, St. Francis University and Villanova University.