OVER $30,000 was raised last month during the Elbow Beach Celebrity Tennis Classic — three times the amount raised at the first one.And the dates have already been set for next year’s Celebrity Classic, said organiser David Lambert this week.

The money raised at the Classic is used to help Bermuda’s young tennis players go abroad and compete in ITF tournaments and Lambert said: “We are trying to give our young stars every opportunity we can.”

The Classic, which saw former tennis stars like Wendy Turnbull, Katrina Adams and Hana Mandikova join former New York City Mayor David Dinkins for clinics and exhibitions, also raised thousands of dollars during an auction at the annual black tie dinner.

“We had Muhammad Ali send down an autograph glove, Kim Clijsters sent a pair of autographed tennis shoes and we also had autographed items sent to us by Venus Williams and Lindsay Davenport and Ali’s daughter Laila Ali.

“We raised thousands and thousands of dollars from that and we also received a cheque for $10,000 from one of our main sponsors Bacardi International,” said Lambert.

He added: “Many of the pros realise that it takes money to get out of Bermuda to play — many of those players didn’t come from money either and they are aware of what is needed. They know that in order to be the best you can be that someone has to have your back.”

While Bermuda hosts an ITF junior event in the summer, sponsored by the Bank of Bermuda Foundation, Lambert said he wants to see the island’s young stars travel to other ITF events in places like the Bahamas, Trinidad, St. Lucia and Jamaica. “With these funds we can send the juniors to play on the circuit. They cannot sit here all year and play each other — they need international exposure if they are to get anywhere — especially if they want to win scholarships to US universities.

“Our job is to give our juniors every opportunity to travel and compete overseas.”

This was the first Classic that Brisbane-born Wendy Turnbull attended and she said this week from her present home in Boca Raton in Florida: “I would really like to come back next year.”

Turnbull began playing tennis at the age of five and developed into one of the quickest players in the women’s game. Among her many tournament successes are back-to-back Wimbledon mixed doubles titles with Britain’s John Lloyd in 1983 and 1984, and a share of the ladies doubles championship in 1978.

She said: “It (the Classic) is a worthwhile cause — I was once a junior myself. The money (raised) will help a lot. Everybody has to travel internationally on the tennis circuit and the good thing about Bermuda is that you are close to the United State but you still need money to be able to do all that stuff.”

Turnbull said she came to know about the Classic through Mandikova. “Hana lives near me in Boca Raton and so we see each other fairly often. She said that she was doing this event in Bermuda and suggested that I join her.

“I really loved my time there and I was glad I was able to come.”

Turnbull said that the offer of scholarships at US universities for promising tennis players was unique.

“In Australia it is not the same as the US — we have the Australian Institute of Sport which is not really academic. We don’t really have scholarships in the same sense that the US have. The US is unique in that the kids can improve their tennis and get an education. By doing that you get more kids playing tennis and they see the opportunity that is there for them.”

When Turnbull started out in the early 1970s it was a tougher route to become a pro. “I grew up in Australia when Tennis Australia didn’t have any money to send anyone overseas. So I worked in a bank for a couple of years to pay my own way over so I know the importance of getting assistance.

“But in other ways maybe it (not having assistance) helped people like me. I have talked to other girls my age and we agreed that maybe (not having any money) helped us to want it a bit more. It made us a bit more hungry. But you do need help these days.”

Asked what she thought of the state of the women’s game today Turnbull said: “I think it is very healthy. We have a lot of really top class players — a lot of players in the top 10 who can win Grand Slam events. We have a lot of depth and also a lot of personalities.”