This Missoula Tennis Tournament Is Raising Money for Local Kids

This weekend is the 14th annual Watson Children's Shelter Tennis Pro-Am hosted at the Peak. It is an excellent fundraiser for Watson Children's Shelter that allows amateur tennis players to play with and against pro tennis players.

"I wanna do something for the community," said Peak Director Scott Potter on the origins of the Tennis Pro-Am event on The Daily Drive with Ace Sauerwein. "I'm so happy to be back with the shelter as the charity this year. To be doing it for the 14th year, it's a lot of work, but it's so rewarding."

The weekend of festivities kicks off with the Live Pro Auction at the Florence Hotel on Thursday night from 6 to 9:30 pm. There, amateur players will be able to bid on playing with a pro tennis player for three days of tournament play.

The tourney runs Friday and Saturday, and concludes on Sunday with the final round.

tennis racket and ball on field

In between, there will be a junior clinic on Friday, October 9th at 4:30 and an adult clinic on Saturday, October 10th at 8:30 am.

"Starting bids are $300 for regional or local pros, and then we have six former touring professionals that are coming in to be a part of this. They do start a little higher because they've been there, done that."

What is Watson Children's Shelter?

Watson's has been around since 1977, helping children in the Missoula area.

"It's a crisis shelter in Missoula, Montana for children between the ages of zero and fourteen," said Watson Executive Director Stacy Hogue. "We serve up to 24 children at a time, we have two different locations... In the middle of the night, we might get a call if there's a crisis situation and a child doesn't have a place to be if a family's experiencing domestic violence... They might come to us while they work through the situation."

All proceeds go to Watson Children's Shelter. Come out Thursday and bid for your chance to play with and against a pro.

Purchase your tickets here or simply make a donation. 

Here's the full list of events this weekend:

Credit: Watsonchildrensshelter.org