The local tennis community of Moore County helped raise more than $2,500 for the local Special Olympics program through the Serving Aces Tennis Tournament.

The tournament was organized and hosted by Julie Criscoe; club manager/director of tennis at Legacy Lakes Racquet and Swim Club; and main sponsors CAS and Forest City Land Development.

During the weekend of Aug. 3-5, more than 60 players took part in doubles and mixed double tournaments. The players helped raise needed funds for the privately funded organization.

According to Special Olympics Moore County tennis coach Scott Boucher, "Fundraisers like this are needed to allow our program to be able to offer sports year-round to athletes in Moore County. Being that we are 100 percent privately funded, we rely events like this to pay for not only the tennis program but also other sports like bowling and athletics. I thought it was a great idea when Julie first presented the idea to me. Legacy Lakes has been the host club for our program from the first day they opened. I could not ask for a better partnership than the one I have with Julie and Legacy Lakes."

The tournament started on Friday with opening round matches and a player's cocktail party. Play continued on Saturday and finished late Sunday afternoon.

On Saturday, athletes from the local Special Olympics participated in a short court doubles match exhibition. Food and beverages throughout the weekend were provided by Heineken, Outback and Basco catering.

In addition to the short court format, the local program also teaches athletes for skills completion and full court traditional tennis.

Winners of each division received medals at the end of the tournament.

Tournament organizer Julie Criscoe says she hopes to make this an annual event that the tennis community looks forward to each August.

Winners in each division were:

Mixed 6.0: Lisa Nixon and Todd Nixon

Mixed 8.0: Kim Kelly and Jaime Nesbit

Mixed 9.0: Kim Kelly and Barry Hemphill

Mixed Open: Ginny Sutton and Chris Fletcher

Women's 3.0: Lisa Nixon and Claire Ford

Women's 3.5: Tina McKenzie and Mary B Later

Women's 4.0; Fran Morris and Jeanne Roller

Men's 3.5: Mark Ix and Jaime Nesbit

Men's 4.0; Pete Morris and Max McDonald

Men's 4.5: Mike Foster and Bobby Beddingfield

Men's Open: Aaron Landry and Chris Fletcher

"The Special Olympics Moore County program cannot thank the participants enough for what they did by playing in this tournament for our benefit," says Boucher. "Monies raised will help send athletes in various sports to state qualifiers and state championship competitions throughout the year. We certainly hope next year's tournament is even more successful."