1^st Fil Am Metro DC Ambassador’s Cup Tennis Tournament                                                                                                    

 Just the perfect setting for the US OPEN Tennis series with the Saturday semi-finals victory of Andre Agassi over Rob Gnepri and Roger Federer over Lleyton Hewitt, setting the finals between the legend “Agassi” and the “maestro” Federer on a Sunday afternoon at the Arthur Ashe Stadium in Flushing Meadows, New York. On the same day, Saturday September 10 at the prestigious Fairfax Racquet Club, Fourteen of the best doubles tennis players from the Filipino American Community of the Metropolitan Area came together to compete in the 1^st Fil Am Metro DC Ambassadors Cup in the Men’s Doubles 7.0 format with the main sponsorship by the Filipino American Tennis Organization of Northern Virginia.

The Ambassador’s Cup also came to represent the generosity of the players in contributing most of the proceeds to the Katrina Relief Aid, as well as the other charity beneficiaries from “Gawad Kalinga” of Couples for Christ with representative Rico and Beth Villaroman  and Philippine Medical Mission of St. Charles Borromeo parish in Clarendon,VA w/ representative Peter Villareal and Ms. Ria De Lumen. Roger Gonzales from the Cultural attaché of the Philippine Embassy was on hand in support of the good cause. The fledgling Filipino American Tennis Organization of Northern Virginia, USTA/CTA organizational member,  would also like to acknowledge the support of Mr. Richard Szymczyk, General Manager and President of the Fairfax Racquet Club Management for their support of our event and their contribution to the Charity event. The Fil Am Tennis group was able to secure ten indoor courts for the evening.

Among the competitors were Dr.Ted Gancayco, local Filipino ophthalmologist, Dr. Tony Ngo, Lt. Luisito Maligat, Gil Amador, Ervin So, Chad Gabriel, Dell Conate, Art Costales, Matthew Costales, Timothy Costales, Andrew Park, Christian Lopez, Elliott Cashell, Manny Manabat, Terrence Gabriel, Mike Lozares, Mike Chupeco, Chuck Santiago, Eric Letada, BJ Tirol,  and JB Deguzman. The winner for the evening were  Bobby Masakayan and son-Daniel Masakayan over finalist Jim Morales IV and Henry Garcia.

As part of the evening, Joseph Galang, local Fil Am Tennis Pro offered his services to those who attended the Tennis Mixers for the non-tournament players. Several members of the (FYP) Filipino Young Professional organization were there to participate and contribute to the charity event. Other attendees were local business owner- Tony Jurlano, Rey Castro, Bill Onuska, David Deleva, Anthony Chin, Theresa Zhao, Vagan Gowder, Doug Vazquez, Joel Laguidao, Marites Digamo, and more.

Once again living up to it’s theme of “Building Community through fun, sport, and spirit”, the Fil Am Tennis of Metro DC continues to play an active role in promoting a sense of “Kababayan” or community with a major partnership with the (USTA) United States Tennis Association and it’s associate from the Multicultural department of the Mid-Atlantic section and local support from the Virginia District. Fil Am tennis hopes to promote and develop the growth of the sport especially among the youth in their upcoming fall tennis program by combining a unique study of Philippine Culture and language in cooperation with Carol DeOcampo, local Tennis pro at Skyline Sports and Health in Falls Church, VA and Ms. Nori Ces from Tahanan ng Panginoon Prayer Community. Fil Am Tennis strives to develop the whole person in mind, body, and spirit and become “Champions” in their own right.