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By Sue Teggart
C & G Sports Writer

Junior tennis aces served up a new brand of tennis July 18, and while doing so raised awareness about a rare form of cancer.

The Birmingham Athletic Club played host to the first Scott L. King Serving Aces for Sarcoma Quickstart tennis tournament, which set a record for the largest United States Tennis Association sanctioned-QuickStart event in the country.

At the heart of the event was the goal of raising money for sarcoma research — a disease that claimed the life of King, a local tennis player, in June 2008.

The event weekend ended up by raising over $70,000 — in combined individual donations and corporate sponsorships — for the University of Michigan Comprehensive Cancer Center.

“Sarcoma is a rare disease, but the devastation is rapid,” said Susan Post, the event coordinator, adding that the rarity of the cancer and its subsequent lack of awareness makes it especially hard to raise funds for.

“This year alone, it claimed 100,000 lives. So, it was amazing that we were able to raise so much money to impact future research.”

King was remembered at the fundraiser as a successful executive in the automotive industry, a keen tennis competitor and as an advocate of introducing tennis to children. The QuickStart tournament was a fitting way to connect his love of the game and desire to familiarize children to the sport with fundraising for sarcoma.

“We wanted to do something special, something different that would tie in one of Scott’s passions — the game of tennis — while also raising awareness about the need for funding sarcoma research,” BAC Director of Tennis Jeff Stassen said. “The QuickStart tournament was a perfect fit to honor our friend and continue his legacy in the tennis community.”

QuickStart, which was established by USTA in 2008, is an exciting new format for learning tennis tailored for young players. It utilizes shorter racquets, smaller courts, smaller nets and lower-pressure balls.

In all, 76 players competed in the boys and girls 8U and 10U divisions. There were 14 round-robin draws with four to six children per draw. Locally, 10-year-olds Hannah Reams and Luke Jorgenson, both of Bloomfield Hills, and James MacKenzie of Birmingham were winners. All players were acknowledged for being part of the largest QuickStart tournament recorded in the country.

“The QuickStart format is a wonderful way to take down any obstacles that might face kids who want to get in the game,” Stassen said. “The equipment is quite inexpensive and can be played on a driveway or parking lot. With the scaled down equipment and slow bouncing ball, kids can start enjoying tennis very quickly.”

The tournament field was made up of mostly local players, but in keeping with the spirit of QuickStart, 11 children — who were brought to the event by City of Detroit tennis coach and Think Detroit Police Athletic League Coaches Hall of Fame member Melvin Foreman — got their first taste of competitive tennis courtesy of the King Family Foundation.