‘Give it a shot’: Rock Hill restaurants team up to help bring back Winthrop tennis
Winthrop tennis alumni claim they’ve raised over three-quarters of a million dollars to bring back the men’s and women’s tennis programs that were eliminated in June because of budget cuts caused by the coronavirus pandemic — and they still have some tricks up their sleeves.
This month, they’re partnering with Rock Hill restaurants.
At least two local eateries are donating a percentage of select-item proceeds to the fundraising effort, said Julie Busha, a Winthrop tennis alumna and a leader of the Save Winthrop Tennis task force.
“Anything we can do so we can drive more traffic into restaurants (is) fantastic,” Busha said. “And we certainly appreciate their support.”
The two restaurants are Sub Station II at 403 Cherry Road, which is within walking distance from Winthrop’s campus, and The Roasting Company at 122 Oakland Ave. Other restaurants are considering joining the effort, Busha said.
At The Roasting Company, proceeds will go to the Winthrop tennis fundraising effort for every Vegetarian Combo or Veggie Wrap order. At Sub Station II, any order from the shop’s extensive vegetarian menu helps the effort. (Retired Winthrop tennis coach Cid Carvalho, who has been outspoken about his support for the return of the tennis programs, is a vegetarian.)
“I understand budgeting and why it was cut, but I also understand that if there’s an opportunity for us to raise the money locally, and we can get that program started back again, I’d like to give it a shot,” said Charlie Ruffalo, the owner of Sub Station II.
Ruffalo said that while they haven’t decided on a percentage of the proceeds, he’s “thinking 25%.”
“It’s not necessarily about the money that’ll be raised for this, but it’s about maybe raising awareness,” said Ruffalo, who has run the sandwich shop for 34 years. “And there are some people in this town who could get together and come up with the number. It’s just a matter of making them aware so they’ll do it.”
Funding for Winthrop tennis
As of Monday morning, Busha said, Save Winthrop Tennis had raised over $780,000 in donations, much of which is pledged money contingent on the reinstatement of the tennis programs.
The two tennis programs, which were among the most successful athletic programs in the university’s history, were cut in June in response to financial hardships caused by the novel coronavirus pandemic and other university-wide budgeting issues.
But since then, on top of raising that money, Winthrop tennis alumni have found a construction company willing to resurface the Winthrop Memorial Tennis Courts for less than $600,000 — a figure that’s $150,000 less than the quote the Winthrop athletic department received in 2018. They’ve also worked on a budgeting plan that they said would make the Winthrop tennis programs self-sustainable for three years, The Herald previously reported.
The Save Winthrop Tennis task force wants to present its financial plan to Winthrop’s board at its next planned meeting on Aug. 24, Busha said.
Until then, its fundraising efforts continue.
“Our programs always did a lot of community work, and we were part of the community and had a lot of support,” Carvalho told The Herald. “So I feel that it’s great to have them on board to help us out, and to try to get the programs back.”
This story was originally published August 11, 2020 at 6:03 AM.
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