<em>Photo above courtesy of Eric Horan.</em>

Sun City-based tennis player and philanthropist Chris Scott was introduced to Scheper Tennis Academy at a recent Junior Tennis Team (JTT) match held at Bluffton High school.&nbsp;

As an avid tennis player and league coordinator at Sun City, Scott had come to play on the high school courts as the Sun City clay courts were not playable due to recent weather conditions. Scott noticed the number of young players and offered his court for the team matches and remained to watch the juniors play.&nbsp;

As the matches progressed, Scott became more impressed with the talent and athleticism of the young players. Janice Johnson, Co-Captain of the 18 and under JTT team, the Smashers, answered Scott’s questions about the players and the Scheper Tennis program. She shared some of her nine years’ experience of knowing and assisting Coach Larry Scheper, founder and head pro of the academy.&nbsp; Scheper is a talented and accomplished tennis pro who works with juniors on the downtown public courts. His coaching has produced some very talented tennis players. As tennis coach at Beaufort Academy, Scheper helped the school earn two state championships — boys in 2016 and girls in 2017, the first girls championship in the history of the school.&nbsp;

Scheper Tennis Academy is well known for bringing high quality instruction to youth whose families cannot afford private club facilities and coaching fees, offering free tennis lessons every Saturday at noon. Scheper has used his many acquaintances with college level tennis coaches to help his junior players attend college on tennis scholarships.

Scott was very impressed with the kids and offered to donate $5,000 to support Scheper's youth tennis program. Scott said that he hoped it might inspire other community members and local businesses to contribute to this worthy cause.

A special presentation is planned to acknowledge Chris and Linda Scott’s contribution to Scheper Tennis Academy. It will take place at the downtown public courts on Boundary Street, on Friday, February 2, at 4 p.m.&nbsp;

For more information, visit Scheper Tennis Academy on Facebook or contact Janice Johnson at 843-812-5642 or Coach Larry at 843-441-2935, email: schepertennis@aol.com.