Nick Bollettieri,75, is a legendary tennis coach and innovative educator who has coached nine players ranked No. 1 in the world during their careers:Andre Agassi, Boris Becker, Jim Courier, Martina Hingis, Marcelo Rios, Monica Seles, Serena Williams, Venus Williams, and Maria Sharapova.
Bollettieri, based in Florida, will headline a fund raising event, Kidspeed 2006, for InnerCity Tennis (ICT) from 5:30 to 10:30 p.m. on Saturday, October 21 at the Lifetime Fitness Athletic Club in Eden Prairie. The gala includes a cocktail reception and silent auction, a center court exhibition with Bollettieri and David Wheaton (Minnesota’s own tennis legend) and a Kidspeed demonstration showing the power, energy and fun of the ICT programming. The dinner program features two experts on the community and local children —Jennifer Reedy from the Itasca Project and Peter Benson from The Search Institute.
The event is open to the public and attendees are encouraged to participate in a demonstration of the ICT curriculum. For costs and other details call Karen McGlynn at 612-803-0350.
ICT is a 54-year-old non-profit organization that uses tennis as a vehicle to deliver educational, fitness and sport instruction. Kidspeed is a program developed at ICT to improve the life skills it teaches annually to 4,000 children.