Tennis fundraiser for mental health supporting the community

September 1, 2020 Event for

National Alliance on Mental Health

It’s A Racquet founders Susan and Mark Murphy are celebrating their September birthdays to gain support to NAMI Johnson County and NAMI Kansas. To accomplish this we are joining forces with the tennis community at Overland Park-Genesis Health Club and Elite Tennis and Wellness Club. We are looking for donations to NAMI Johnson County and to add participants/donors for the NAMI Kansas Walk to be held in Topeka on Saturday October 10, 2020 at the West Ridge Mall.

By making a donation of at least $15 to NAMI you will be given a mental wellness gift bag and will be entered to win a tennis lesson by one of the highly renowned professionals at Genesis and Elite. Lessons are being given at Genesis by Thiago Santos and Michelle Hall and at Elite by John Shaw and Mike Wolf. You must be a member of the club where you are registering to win a lesson.

Genesis Health Clubs – Overland Park, Kansas

Winners of the free lessons are Genesis: Laurie Riley, and Brad Bicknell! Elite: Andrew Wimmer, Shannon Lyon, Sara McGuire and Karen Snyder! Congrats to them, and a huge thanks for all that donated.

You can still make a donation:

Click on one of the links below to donate to NAMI Johnson County or register for the NAMI Walk -Team It’s a Racquet.

NAMI Johnson County

NAMI Walk-Team It’s A Racquet

Venmo your donation to @NAMI-JohnsonCountyKS

Email to itsaracquet2020@gmail.com if you or your company would like to work with us to host a virtual or other small event in celebration of a birthday or holiday to benefit NAMI.

January 18, 2020 Annual Event

The 2020 event was a fundraiser for mental health awareness and suicide prevention.

The event was held this year at Overland Park Racquet Club, 6800 W 91st St, Overland Park, KS 66212 on Saturday, January 18, 2020 from 6-10 pm

We had over 200 persons register and 174 attended.

We raised nearly $12,000 which went to our two named charities this year – National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI-Kansas) and Johnson County Mental Health.

Tennis

Tennis players play three timed sets of doubles in a round robin format led by Jason Kane with no-ad scoring. After each set, your team moves up or down.

Pickleball & Ping-Pong

What to do between sets? Play ping-pong or pickleball, chat with your friends, make new friends, bid in the auction, or eat some yummy food.

Food

Kansas City Catering, Inc, graciously provided food for It’s a Racquet again this year. There will also be a cash bar.

Pro Exhibition

Our favorite pros played an exciting exhibition match!

Have Fun!

Everyone’s a winner! We played tennis, ping-pong, and pickleball while raising money for a great cause. All the money we raised went to JCMH and NAMI – Kansas.

Rules

Sign up with a partner or we can match you with someone.
You must be 18 or over.
This is for fun – thank you for being a good sport.
No refunds. It’s a charity fundraiser!

Why we began It’s a Racquet

Susan had been playing tennis for a few year and Mark was a sponsored racquetball player. They would join their groups of friends with a holiday party in December each year that Susan named Its a Racquet. After some long recoveries from illnesses in their family at different times, they decided to replant this event in the least active month of the year, and give back to the community which at the time was in shock after a widespread occurrence of teen suicides especially in the Olathe School District. Without much direction and trying to create more fun for their growing and wonderful tennis community, they originally chose the active JCMH organization and have progressed into the addition of NAMI-Kansas, and made this a more public event with 3 different Racquet activities, food and auction to raise awareness of mental health needs and suicide prevention.