Tennis great Michael Chang and his wife Amber Chang are giving their all-out support to the fundraising project of RP Davis Cup star Cecil Mamiit for the victims of typhoons Ondoy and Pepeng that brought death and destruction to a wide area of the Philippines recently.
Michael Chang is best remembered for becoming the youngest-ever male winner of a grand slam singles title when he won the French Open in 1989.
Exhibition tennis matches and clinics will highlight a whole day affair at the La Mirada Tennis Courts along Adelfa Drive in La Mirada, California on Saturday.
Aside from Chang and Mamiit others participating include Mamiit’s former Davis Cup partner Eric Taino, Korean-American Kevin Kim who was ranked No. 65 in the world a few years ago, Fil-Am Maureen Diaz from the University of Southern California and other top Fil-Am players.
Mamiit said it all started with an email he sent out to the ATP which responded by asking players from the Paris Masters series to help out. Mamiit said some players have donated their equipment which he could auction off on Saturday to hopefully “start a wave of donations.”
The Fil-Am player who has a tremendous following in the Philippines said he wants to rally the Filipino community in the US and is hoping for a good turnout. He said “ the people of attendance en mass will be the Filipinos that belong to clubs and parks in southern California. Mamiit told us I have done some leg work and tried to visit as many clubs as possible.. The president of each club has been so supportive and are willing to be behind the event.”
Mamiit said he has been getting a lot of help from Joel Dacay, head of F itness Mechanix, Cherry C arluen, Arnold Valliajuan, Jimmy De Guzman, Charlene Laino as well as his parents.
Mamiit said it is a social event “ bringing in the Filipino community through tennis but also opening it to all. We have a lot of sponsors who have donated products for prizes and for auction . We have food restaurants that help with the cause and partial purchases go to the donation fund which will be accounted for and personally handed over to ABS-CBN which has done a tremendous job in helping the typhoon victims.
The activities on Saturday will also be covered by an ABS-CBN team from its California bureau.
Popularity: 15% [?]
