OUR final fundraising tally to Rare Voices Australia, on behalf of the Sawatzky Cup, is officially $7760!

However the total overall is past $8000 as some donations went directly to Rare Voices Australia rather than through the Sawatzky Cup link.

A massive THANK YOU to all who contributed - players, sponsors, spectators, the board and staff at Alexander Park Tennis Club, staff at Rare Voices Australia and all those - wherever you are - who made donations.

Enormous gratitude too to the Perth Glory, Rugby Australia, Athletics West, the Western Force and Perth Wildcats for donating jerseys which were auctioned off, proceeds going to RVA.

Hopefully I can announce SOON some exciting developments for the Sawatzky Cup and its fundraising efforts for Rare Voices Australia - right across Australia.

See you all in 2026!

Norman Burns
Tournament Director Sawatzky Cup Grasscourt Classic, presented by Zarraffa's Coffee Currambine.

I'm posting this with just a few hours before the fifth annual Sawatzky Cup kicks into gear -- shame the bloke on the right doesn't play any more but I hope ALL competitors can channel their inner Federer on the day and:

* Try your best, regardless of the result
* Show great sportsman/womanship on the court
* Have FUN
* Support our on-site coffee van, our canteen (Club Social) our free afternoon sausage sizzle, buy up big on the raffles (prizes totalling thousands of dollars), support the Alexander Park Tennis Club bar and
* Do YOUR club and team proud!

WELL done to the successful bidder for the signed cricket bat and ball and GREAT WORK by Sawatzky Cup platinum sponsor Paul Snell (Zarraffas Coffee Currambine) to get rising star Cooper Connolly to sign 'em.

The bat and ball have raised hundreds of dollars for the Sawatzky Cup donation fund to Rare Voices Australia.

And this is what I wrote the other week: 

"Cooper is starring for the Scorchers in the Big Bash and I have no doubt he will one day don the Green and Gold for Australia in cricket! "

And so it has proved, as Cooper was this morning  named in the Australian Test team for the first time, to take on Sri Lanka! And that would be every cricketer's dream in Australia.

Thanks again Paul and best of luck to Cooper in the sub-continent!

JUST 24 hours until the fifth edition of the Sawatzky Cup, proudly presented by Zarraffa's Coffee Currambine and raising funds and awareness for Rare Voices Australia!

With a field of more than 100 and a forecast of 28-30C tops it is shaping as a great day!

THANKS once again to all our amazing sponsors, without whom the Sawatzky Cup would not be possible!

Sponsors' signage is now  up on the tournament courts, including Alexander Park Tennis Club's magnificent showcourts.

The official Sawatzky Cup/Rare Voices Australia donation page is now LIVE. We've already passed the $3000 mark - thanks to all who have contributed. All donations of $2 or more are tax deductible. To make a donation, go to https://donate.rarevoices.org....

Just TWO  and a bit weeks to go until Sawatzky Cup V, and the amazing grass courts of Alexander Park Tennis Club are coming up beautifully.

Thanks to the APTC board, staff and members for being a part of the Sawatzky Cup family.

For more on Alexander Park, go to https://www.alexanderpark.com....

ONE of the fun things being a website adminstrator is getting to see who is looking at your page - and where from. And since I launched the Official Sawatzky Cup website only a couple of weeks ago, the "hits" have been coming thick and fast - from all over the place! Great exposure for the tournament, our sponsors and most importantly Rare Voices Australia!
So thank you netizens from the United States, Australia, Singapore, the United Kingdom, New Zealand (yay!), Germany, India, Austria and Hong Kong! 

In early 2020, the Perth, Western Australia family and tennis mates of Ross Sawatzky suffered a brutal blow when the 48-year-old father of two died from an extremely rare autoimmune condition, HLH.

With the Sawatzky family's backing, Rossco's tennis mate Norman Burns launched a tennis day at North Shore Country Club, where Ross, a tennis and sports fanatic,  had been a former president.

The first tournament, held on a scorching day in 2021 attracted just under 40 entrants and had the backing of one local sponsor, PM Piping, and with  Snauwaert Australia supplying the balls.

With no HLH-specific organisation in Perth (or even Australia), funds raised were directed to the Harry Perkins Institute of Medical Research.

The tennis was great but a snap State Government COVID lockdown at 6PM meant a sudden curtailing of post-tennis festivities!

Luckily by tournament #2 COVID lockdowns were becoming a thing of the past; the Sawatzky Cup was growing too, with a field of about 60 men and women.

Now more sponsors were coming on board, chief of these Paul Snell's Complete Commercial Projects.

By Sawatzky Cup #3 though such was the interest more courts were needed; thus the event moved to the grasscourts at Alexander Park Tennis Club.

Now the field was 80 strong, with a dozen sponsors on board - and our target charity shifted to Rare Voices Australia the peak body helping more than two million Aussies (young and old) facing rare illness and disease - like HLH which proved fatal to Rossco.

The Sawatzky Cup's aim is to generate not just funds for Rare Voices Australia, but to bring the great work it does nationally to wider attention.

And every year we raise a glass (of Shelter beer or  Swings & Roundabouts wine) to a great dad and good mate gone but not forgotten.

The official 2025 Sawatzky Cup/Rare Voices Australia donation page is now LIVE. All donations of $2 or more are tax deductible.

 https://donate.rarevoices.org....

Much appreciation to highly respected WA sports journalist Glen Quartermain for the lead piece on the Sawatzky Cup in his weekly Sunday Times column. See below in the Media and Comms section to read the article. Thanks Quarters!

Congratulations to Tim Lau, of the Scarborough Scallywags team, who is the 100th player to enter! 

We now have a record tournament field of 105 entrants! 

The Sawatzky Cup 2025 Grasscourt Classic, presented by Zarraffa's Coffee Currambine Drive Thru, will be held on Saturday January 11 2025 at Alexander Park Tennis Club, Menora, Perth, Western Australia.

The unique format - a Davis Cup/Fed Cup type team event - with a mix of round robin and knockout semifinals/finals - ensures entrants get plenty of tennis in a competitive but FUN atmosphere and that at the end of the day the BEST teams get their names engraved on the Sawatzky Cup.

All entrants get a "goody bag" of stuff, and all women entrants go into the draw for one of EIGHT spa treatment vouchers.

Add in prizes for the first men's and women's teams entered, novelty prizes, raffles with $$$$ worth of prizes, a free sausage sizzle and Alexander Park's famous bar open early for refreshments and it is a great day for all.

Oh, and the winners - thanks to the amazing support of our generous sponsors - will go home with prizes totalling several thousand dollars all up.

What: Sawatzky Cup 2025 Grasscourt Classic, presented by Zarraffa's Coffee Currambine Drive-Thru

Where: Alexander Park Tennis Club, Clyde Road, Menora, Perth

When: Saturday January 11 2025 from 8am 

From 36 entrants and just one sponsor at the inaugural Sawatzky Cup in January 2021 to a maximum field of 132 entrants and more than 20 sponsors for the 2025 event - that's been the spectacular growth of the Sawatzky Cup in just five years.

But the event would just be 'another idea that never got off the ground' if it wasn't for the generosity of our tournament sponsors.

First and foremost of these is Mr Paul Snell, who initially came on board with his business Complete Commercial Projects. Now his new enterprise, Zarraffa's Coffee Currambine Drive Thru, is our 'platinum' sponsor.

Huge thanks too to Scott Gregson, the Australian distributor of Snauwaert tennis gear - including the International Tennis Federation approved balls he supplies for the tournament. All players rave about the quality of these balls.

Mr Michael Connelly of PM Piping was our original sponsor and he and the company continue to be on board.

DV Buyers Agency has also stepped up to the plate to become a major sponsor; thanks Dan and Violeta!

Arc Infrastructure is another major cup contributor and I thank Martin Holland and all the Arc Infrastructure team for their amazing support.

YONEX Australia provides close to $2000 worth of awesome racquet bags as prizes.

MAXUM Watches, an Australian based company, generously supplies some very cool wristwatches for EACH of our men's and women's winners.

Busselton's SHELTER Brewing Co. is the Official Beer for the Sawatzky Cup - thanks Tom and team SHELTER.

For 2025 we also welcome new sponsor Champion Electrical. Thanks Tim and the team at Champion Electrical!

And on behalf of the Sawatzky family, Rare Voices Australia and all of the competitors, a warm thank you to all of our other FANTASTIC sponsors/brands and partners of the Sawatzky Cup:

N-Hance Home Loans
Millman Chauffeur
The Racquet Shop
LetGo BNB
Aviso WA Insurance
KleenAz Window and Pressure Cleaning
Tennis Excellence
Swings & Roundabouts Winery
Slater Gartrell Sports
EvaKool Iceboxes
Alexander Park Tennis Club
Umbertos Continental Deli
Scotty's Media
MaxiBlock

If YOUR brand/business would like to know more about sponsorship opportunites for the Sawatzky Cup, please contact Tournament Director Norman Burns via email (norman@normanburns.com) or give him a call. (0439 424 185)

Likewise if you would like to get a team together for what is a competitive but FUN day's tennis, with great prizes for a fantastic cause.