Courtside with ACEing Autism – Fall 2017 Newsletter

Our program growth has been unprecedented this year. We have added 17 new program locations and by year’s end will have added 24, bringing our total to 55 programs! The demand for play-based programs for children with autism exists in all communities and we hope to continue our growth. Our board of directors has developed a capacity campaign which will require that we raise over $5million in the next three years. As you plan your end of year giving please consider making a donation to our organization. If anyone is interested in learning more about our plans and fundraising goals please do not hesitate to contact me at richard@aceingautism.org. – Richard Spurling, Executive Director & Founder

On Sunday, Aug. 27th we held our 4th annual clinic at the US OPEN! It was another beautiful day with 25 children that played tennis for 90 minutes on the courts at Flushing Meadows. Our clinic was given by more than 20 of our program directors who had flown in for the weekend to support our clinic and team building! WTA players Allison Riske and Rebecca Peterson and USTA CEO Katrina Adams all stopped by to feed balls and rally with some of our players!

Tennis Channel reports on ACEing Autism at The 207 US Open

Partner Up for Autism Men’s Day

On July 23rd we held a men’s doubles round robin and tournament at MountainGate Country Club to raise funds for our programs. Over thirty players participated and enjoyed a competitive day of tennis. Some of the Live auction items that were very popular were a Vania King private lesson, Tennis Channel Studio tour and a Bali vacation package. The event raised just over $7,000 to support the many programs that operate in Los Angeles!

Partner Up for Autism Ladies Day!

We had so much fun at the second Partner Up for Autism, women’s doubles event at MountainGate Country Club. We would like to thank our sponsors, Emily Bregman Fine Homes, HEAD, PENN, MountainGate Country Club, Robin G. Berglund, Image Cube, and Seyfarth Shaw for their contributions and support of our mission.

Borna Coric at Winston Salem

ACEing Autism Winston-Salem held a free clinic in partnership with the Winston-Salem Open on Sunday, August 20th, including a special appearance by rising #NextGenATP star Borna Coric. ACEing Autism also had the privilege of participating in the honorary pre-match coin toss.

Features

Longtime Charlotte Latin School volunteer, Margaret Redic, is continuing her work with ACEing Autism at our Vanderbilt location. She is also an Ingram Scholarship Program recipient.

News from Atlanta, GA

This summer ACEing Autism Atlanta participated in the Autism Speaks Atlanta Walk with over 30 participants walking with tennis racquets for 2 miles in downtown Atlanta! We were on a mission to “get the word out” about our ACEing Autism programs. We also raised over $4000.00!

Our programs are getting more attention with 10 new players this season!

ACEing Autism launched a new program site in Powder Springs at Lost Mountain Tennis Center led by Amy Bonner.

Program Director Sue Beatty-Hites is in the process of getting registered in the state of Georgia to have our tennis players compete in Special Olympic tennis events. She is also proud of her volunteers, in fact one of her Emory graduate volunteers Josh Werman who is now studying in New York came out to join us for our U.S. Open clinic!

New Program Launches

Since June, we have introduced 4 new ACEing Autism programs. We extend the warmest of welcomes and appreciation to our new Program Directors Alexander Brandt (Durham, NC), Scott Kaufman (Las Vegas, NV), and Dalia Khakshoor/Rob Villegas (Great Neck, NY).

Durham Program Director Alexander Brandt successfully fundraised more than $1,500 to allow for his program’s participants to register at no cost. Read more about the program here.

Launches Coming Up

We are pleased to announce the start of 5 new programs in the next month. They include Newport Beach, CA (10/8); Phoenix, AZ (10/14); Laconia, NH (10/15); Moline, IL (10/22); Fargo, ND (11/5).

UCLA Spectrum News Webinar on Oct. 18

Join Spectrum News on October 18th at 12pm (PST) for a special webinar with world expert Connie Kasari from the Kasari Research Lab and the UCLA Center for Autism Research and Treatment about autism therapies: what works, what doesn’t, and what is still too early to say. Attendance is FREE but please register to claim your spot.

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