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This Thursday, March 8th, the 13th annual McDaniel Tennis Tournament started with the first round of pre-arranged doubles draw tournaments with 20 players from both La Romana Country Club and La Terraza. All donations this year will go, as in years past, exclusively to the Player’s Health Insurance, the Ball Boys Scholarship Fund, and College Scholarships for two students. Following tradition during the McDaniel Family Foundation Tennis Tournament, the community members who support and sponsor the programs met for the Sponsors Appreciation Luncheon this past Wednesday, March 7th as well as got together that same afternoon for an exciting exhibition game! The country club’s outdoor terrace was outfitted with several tables for guests where, when everybody was seated, Mr. McDaniel spoke on the excellent support of the Casa de Campo community and his sincere gratefulness. He announced this year’s agenda as well as introduced the two tennis pro’s from his club in the states that traveled to play an exhibition game that afternoon with 2 of Casa’s tennis pro’s. The Tournament has once again raised the necessary funds to cover health care for the tennis professionals at La Terraza Tennis Center and La Romana Country Club, as well as supported the school education for the ball boys. That same afternoon, the sponsors, villa owners, residents, and guests got together to witness what turned out to be an exciting doubles exhibition. Mike Keiser and Greg Joyce, both pro’s from the states, battled against local pro’s José Santana who won the first tournament 13 years ago and Francisco Concepción who has won the tournament 3 times in singles format and has also won now in doubles format. The crowd enjoyed an entertaining afternoon of friendly competition after which they were able to talk to and meet the pro’s at the cocktail that was set out prepared by the Casa de Campo food and drinks department. The tournament continues with matches tomorrow, Friday the 9th at La Terraza and Saturday, March 10th with the finals at 4:00 p.m. on Sunday  at La Romana Country Club. Other activities include a riverboat cruise at 4:00 p.m. on Saturday, which serves as another big THANK YOU to all those generous Casa de Campo villa owners and businesses who have sponsored the tournament. Since the beginning of the foundation in 2005, donations are used exclusively for the children’s benefit. We extend our sincere gratitude to the sponsors and encourage you to consider donating to this wonderful cause.  If you would like to make a donation please contact Rick McDaniel at kosmomcdaniel@aol.com or by phone at (809) 951-1523. We hope to see you all at the courts during the rest of the tournament to cheer on your favorite player! The following pictures were taken by Laura Perdomo on Wednesday, March 7th: Sponsors Appreciation Luncheon, held at the La Romana Country Club:
Doubles exhibition and cocktail at La Terraza Tennis Center:  [nggallery id=3071]

13th McDaniel Teaching Pro’s Annual Tennis Tournament

Schedule   Friday, March 9th, 9 am – Tournament quarterfinals at La Romana Country Club Saturday, March 10th, 9 am – Tournament semi-finals at La Romana Country Club Saturday, March 10th, 4 pm – Sponsors appreciation Riverboat Cruise  Sunday, March 11th, 11 am – Finals at La Romana Country Club followed by the Awards Ceremony for all the players at 4 pm