This past week Smithtown East High School hosted the annual Bob Davis Play for Autism Tournament, and it was a giant success for everyone involved.
Nearly 50 boys' tennis players from across Suffolk County were on hand for the event to support this cause. The event raised over $1,200 for ACEing Autism. ACEing Autism's mission statement is that they are "on a mission to help children with autism to grow, develop and benefit from social connections and fitness through affordable tennis programming, uniquely meeting individual needs while filling a national void for this growing and underserved population."
ACEing Autism was founded in the summer of 2008 by Richard Spurling and Dr. Shafali Jeste in Boston,and now has spread to different parts of the country.
The Long Island tournament consisted of 24 doubles teams playing a round-robin format of 8-minute mini-matches, as the winners and runners-up earned free entry to the Section XI tennis dinner on June 4.
At the end of the day everyone who contributed, supported and played in the event were winner but the overall victors in double competition were Shashank Pennabadi & Jeffrey Behar with the runners up being Aidan Thomas & Leo Schoolman.