First Lady Cecile de Jongh is pleased to announce the winners of the Tennis in the Parks and Schools (TIPS) raffle contest. The raffle drawing benefits the TIPS initiative, providing after-school tennis clinics throughout the Territory’s public parks and tennis coaching in the public elementary schools. First Lady de Jongh is a tennis enthusiast dedicated to raising awareness of the sport and providing incentives to increase tennis participation amongst Virgin Islands youth.

“Tennis is a great outlet for youth recreation, and the TIPS initiative assists children in building self-confidence, staying healthy, and enables them to learn a new sport with hands-on instruction and coaching. Our goal is to open doors of opportunity that will last a lifetime while providing sports competition that simply didn’t exist before. With the U.S. Open just around the corner in August, we felt this raffle contest would be a great incentive to raise money toward sending a few lucky Virgin Islanders to attend the tournament in New York while raising funds and awareness for tennis programs in the Territory. I congratulate the winners and thank the community for its support of this initiative, benefiting the children of the Virgin Islands,” she stated.

The raffle winners were selected by random drawing on Friday at TV-2 on St. Thomas and include: Grand Prize winner Don Porter, Second Place winner Lubin Roberts, and Third Place winner Joyce Bailey. 

The Grand Prize is a trip for three people to attend the U.S. Open to view the Men’s 1st Round/Women’s 2nd Round Evening Session Tennis matches on Wednesday, August 31, 2011 in New York. Hotel and airfare from the USVI is included.

The Second Prize is three free, one hour tennis lessons with a local tennis professional. The Third Prize is a $100.00 gift certificate to Tennis Warehouse.

Half of the proceeds from the raffle contest will go to the Virgin Islands Tennis Association, which partners with the Department of Housing, Parks and Recreation and the Department of Education on this initiative. The other half will go to the Community Foundation of the Virgin Islands to fund a public tennis tournament in support of TIPS youth participants.

The first lady thanks the members of the TIPS committee for their continued dedication to youth recreation and commends members of the community for the strong show of support in purchasing raffle tickets and raising funds to assist the youth program in both districts. She also thanks the Department of Tourism for sponsoring the contest’s Grand Prize.

The TIPS committee is chaired by the first lady. She is joined by Commissioner St. Claire Williams and Stanley Smith from the Department of Housing, Parks, and Recreation; William McComb, Robert Nuscher, and Bruce Wray of the VI Tennis Association; Lucille Hobson, Mark Daniel, and Arthur Solomon from the Department of Education; George Lewis of VITEMA and the St. Thomas Yacht Club; and Louis B. Taylor from the St. Thomas Racquet Club. 

Individuals interested in supporting the Tennis in the Parks and Schools initiative may also make a tax deductible donation to the “Governor’s Special Events Fund” at the Office of the Governor. Donations will assist program efforts in both districts. 

The first lady launched the Tennis in the Parks and Schools initiative in March 2008 to provide additional recreational outlets for Virgin Islands youth, as well as to provide increased opportunities for tennis programs throughout the community.

“I am delighted to bring tennis to so many children’s lives. The hope is to continue to provide tennis recreation options for youth and increase the accessibility of the sport for all Virgin Islanders.”

Tennis instruction is now part of the school curriculum at all public elementary schools throughout the Territory, thanks to the TIPS initiative.