On May 3rd at the Lee Wetherington Club, the Boys & Girls Clubs of Sarasota and DeSoto Counties proudly dedicated the Joey Gratton Tennis Center.
The Joey Gratton Foundation was created in 2011 to spread Joey’s passion for competition by supporting and promoting youth in sports. The hope being, that by enabling less privileged kids to become involved in sports, it will give them a focus and a goal. Keeping kids motivated, off the streets and out of trouble.
"What an incredible evening we had with the Boys & Girls Club and the Joey Gratton Tennis Center ribbon cutting," stated Blake Gratton. "Over the past three years, we have raised over a quarter of a million dollars for the Boys & Girls Clubs of Sarasota and DeSoto Counties and we couldn’t have done it without all of the incredible friends and sponsors who made it happen.
"Thank you to everyone who attended this event; it was truly special and means a lot to us to continue to keep my dad’s name alive in such a positive way. The Boys & Girls Clubs of Sarasota and DeSoto Counties does so much for the youth in our community and we couldn’t be happier to support such an amazing organization.”
In addition to several members of the Gratton Family, Boys & Girls Clubs of Sarasota and DeSoto Counties Foundation Board Chairman Jon Lee, Executive Board Chairman Jaime DiDomenico and Foundation Board member Barb Lancer joined BGCSC donors, board members and staff.
Said Bill Sadlo, BGCSC President/CEO, “We dedicated our new Tennis Center in honor of Joey Gratton because he was an incredibly selfless man who absolutely loved sports and supporting children through athletics. His legacy will forever live on at our new Joey Gratton Tennis Center thanks to Joey Gratton Foundation and all sponsors of the Joey Gratton Championship.
"We attribute this great success to our amazing leadership team including Barbara Lancer and Jon Lee from our Foundation Board for spearheading this great event, as well as, those who have helped enhance our tennis program throughout the years.”
