The Scott Hampton First Memorial Charity Tennis Event
At Westside, September 23, 2006
What a wonderful “Scott” day!!! The sun shone brightly all day and it all came together at the last minute with a great team effort. Mark and Alison assembling the players - Patricia in charge of the all day delicious, very popular barbeque - Wendy’s scrummy home baked cakes - Lisa’s potatoes and wicked brownies - all devoured as the day progressed. And meeting everyone as they arrived was Jenny with her Raffle tickets and her winning charm!
Tennis was played and fought to a very high standard - but above all was FUN! It was so great to see again, after so many years, Mike Haward (with his lovely mum and dad and wife), with all of his hilarious Scotty stories - and Simon Thorpe (with lovely wife and baby), both from old junior tournament days - great memories. Nick Carswell - a great mate of Scott’s coaching days - who brought with him Chris Bain and Ian Hampton(no relation) from Queen’s Club - Richard Mayers, Westside captain but discovered an old junior Scott rival! And all the terrific Westside players - some old playing partners of Scott’s - Gino Fasciana, Asif Alfridi, Mark Winton, Peter Dowdeswell, Faz Bouaiach, Jesse Koti, Chris Foster, Juan Rincon, and Westside Champion Marek Karas, and lastly, David Lloyd top player Tim Patient. Many thanks to all the players and true spirit of competitiveness.
The day was made complete with the wonderful support of Scott’s non - playing friends and especially Kimberley, Theo and grandchildren Olivia, Eliana and Raphael. Robbie, Patricia and Kasper, Joni, Dan, Nick, James, Lucy and Alexander - and not forgetting Scott’s friends wanting to be there unable to attend: Amy, Hugo, Paul T, Paul B. and many more. Everyone watched the tennis and joined in the celebration atmosphere and spirit of Scott that dominated the day.
The finals produced some awesome shots and exciting, hard fought rallies.The semifinalists were Richard Mayers v Marek Karas and Jesse Koti v Tim Patient. Two great matches. The finalists Marek Karas v Tim Patient produced shots that had the crowd gasping and clapping - every point creating great winners and thrilling to watch. Marek came out the winner 6 - 4 - congratulations!
Players and supporters then gathered in the clubhouse to cheer the semifinalists and finalists receiving their hard fought prize money - and then the lucky Raffle tickets were picked, followed by the signed Dementieva Tennis racket auctioned to the highest bidder - thank you Alison!
The day ended with us remembering the person we were all there for - wonderful Scott - and how cruelly he was taken from us and how important are the funds raised to create a Fellowship to research Burkitt’s Lymphoma Cancer which is the driving force.
The day would not have been possible without the following people’s support and sponsorship:
- ROBERT HOLMES - his generous sponsorship for the day’s events reduced the costs. And thank you for being there.
- BOB JENKINS - who gave his time free to be the official LTA referee and assured that the day was run to a very high professional standard.
- PWP - who supplied ALL the tennis balls free.
- VILLAGE SPORTS - who supplied the tennis racket to be raffled.
- YONNEK - who gave the signed auctioned tennis racket.
- HEADMASTERS - vouchers.
- Mark’s constant support over many weeks.
- Alison’s ever present advise.
- All the bar helpers on the day.
- And all my great friends as helpers Jenny, Patricia, Wendy, Lisa and support from all the other Westside friends who gave so generously to the raffle and by being there on the day meant a great deal.
- A very big thank you to LEE GOODALL, who wrote the splendid and moving article in the British Tennis Magazine - which not only told us about Scott but helped to advertise the event. It has also reunited us as a family with old tennis friends of Scott’s. Thank you for that.
Lastly, to say with the takings on the day and the very generous private donations - Scott’s Day made over £2,000!
The enthusiasm of people taking part in this event endorses our wish to make this a yearly event in memory of Scott.