Kinas Dinner Party and Snell and Wilmer Tennis Tournament

By Ryan Wolfington

Robert Kinas is on the Red Rock men's 4.0 team which just won Sectionals in Utah and will be competing at Nationals. He and his wife have just taken the initiative to put together a tournament of their own called the Snell & Wilmer Tennis Challenge. This was merely an idea they acted on instead of doubting. What is great about life and tennis is when you are led to do something and you see it through. Whether it be a rush to the net or an acting upon what you know instead of doubting it. This type of initiative is what gives life to the game. As it turns out, the event is a 32 player draw in a unique round robin format. 

This Friday before my match at the Red Rock Tournament I stopped by Robert and Mary Kinas's party which they put together for some 150+ tennis players and fans in the Valley and from the southwest United States. I was officially their last to RSVP and their first to arrive. 

Robert and Mary have only been on town 1 year and have already made an impact on the local tennis scene. Not only has Robert won a number of the towns 4.0 trophy's, including being a finalist at Stacy Darling and winning the Jill Gaynor in singles and doubles, but has been active in helping VegasTennis.com keep up on the local tennis news by e-mailing me details of his sectionals adventures and his latest escapade at the Andre Agassi dinner.  

This dinner party and Tournament that Robert, Mary and Robert's Law Firm Snell and Wilmer put together  Friday night was an idea that was born after last years Andre Agassi charity event. The pair decided to invite some guests from where they use to live in Phoenix to come to town, play tennis, and go to the event. And eventually, "The spirit moved" Robert to give it 100% cutting no corners. It became the Snell and Wilmer (Robert's Law firm which sponsors the event) Tennis Classic, with a 32 person draw using all the courts at Spanish Trail this past Saturday. It was competitive tennis with a variety of skill levels, both men and woman.

He went to far as to have a professional score board created with the names of each team member, broken down into "Team Head" and "Team Penn".  They got permission from Head Penn, which is now one company and also headquartered in Phoenix, Arizona, to use their names and logos. They put together an extravagant yet casual dinner party environment with numerous hors d'oeuvres to make up the dinner menu and a fully stocked bar. On the T.V was the classic Wimbledon Match between Borg and McEnroe. The only thing missing was a video highlights reel from VegasTennis.com.   

 There was valet, lighted trees and two rows of perfectly placed, perfectly sized tables, giving guests a place to rest their arms, cups and camera's. Each guest was given a name tag and  on each tag was any quote, fact or principle the guest wanted printed on there. Basically saying..if there was one statement or point which sums you up as a person what is it. and let's put it on a name tag, hence opening the door for some conversation. Robert and Mary know all the guests but many of the guests will meet one another for the first time and this name tag was designed to be an "Ice breaker." What would be on your name tag?

I just received an e-mail from Robert as I asked him to give me a summary of the events that took place. He describes in details who won, attended and what took place.....

hi ryan the snell & wilmer tennis challenge is designed as as a way for those individuals who love the game of tennis to meet others who love the game of tennis to that end, mary and i incorporated a variety of our favorite social activities into the tennis challenge weekend - a catered friday night dinner, a Saturday tennis tournament, a Saturday evening dinner at André Agassi's grand slam for children and some unstructured time on Sunday that generally involves a timeout for sleep (something that is noticeably lacking on days one and two) this year, approximately 150 tennis lovers from around the southwest attended the Friday night dinner; kudos to Laurie Kendrick of wild sage for the wonderful and varied entrees and pastries the Spanish trail country club and USPTA pro Dan knight hosted the Saturday doubles tournament; 16 men and 16 women competed in the rapid-fire, round robin format;  every four games, the participants change both partners and opponents; the hope, again, was to provide the individuals with the opportunity to meet as many tennis players as possible during the tournament's duration Dana Cartwright (nv) and casi kakar (az) prevailed over Janet Spelman (nv) and terene scibelli (nv) in the women's doubles; Tony kakar (az) and rob weisbord (nv) narrowly defeated peter aiello (az) and Jeff Ramsey (nv) in the men's doubles; heather crumpley (nv) and Greg Gilbert (nv) maintained a one break advantage over bard coats (nv) and Cheryl londen (az) in the mixed doubles the challenge concluded with an amazing evening at the André Agassi grand slam for children; plans for the 2003 snell & wilmer challenge are in the works and Mary and I hope you can participate have a great week rob Robert Kinas