Karen Stickland combined her love of tennis and charity fundraising and founded the website Tennis Partners.
According to the High Park resident, the site is the first photo profile social interactive website in Canada, which also raises money for charity.Noting a lack of resources that put tennis players in touch with others looking for a partner, Stickland brought Tennis Partners to fruition in March and has amassed about 300 members to date. "It provides an opportunity for people who play public courts and clubs to find a partner and play whenever," Stickland said. "It's free to use and join."To help bring members together, Stickland purchased two sets of 50 Level 300 tickets for the Rogers Cup at York University's Rexall Centre the evenings of Thursday, Aug. 12 and Friday, Aug. 13, which she plans to sell to her members at face value for reimbursement.Two gold semi-final tickets for Saturday, Aug. 14 are also up for grabs, with proceeds going to the Canadian National Institute for the Blind (CNIB)."I took a big chance," Stickland said, referring to ticket purchase. "I could potentially lose thousands of dollars."As for why she started Tennis Partners, Stickland said she would visit courts and see people waiting around for someone to play with, or hear of those who were uncomfortable to go out and find a partner. "On my site you can post a picture of yourself, so you can see and read about the person," she said, adding there are separate links on her site for players in North York/Markham, Toronto/Etobicoke and Mississauga/Oakville. "We're getting a lot of people who are just trying tennis or who haven't played in years."Stickland, who was forced to take a break from tennis years ago after injuring herself and is now back on the court, said she chose to fundraise for the CNIB because blindness is such a devastating disability. "I thought about the thing that would be hardest to deal with in life and it's blindness," she said. "You are in the dark your whole life and can't appreciate the beauty around you."To sign up for Tennis Partners, visit www.meetup.com and type in tennis partners under the Topic or Interest tab, or call 416-799-0458.