Photo by Glenn Triest

A racquetball
tourney will
raise funds for
kids at the JCC.

H itting An Ace

Gail Young and Bob Szuch prepare for the tournament.

STEVE STEIN

SPECIAL TO THE JEWISH NEWS

am Young had many passions
in his life. Near the top of the
list were children and sports.
Mr. Young died of pancreat-
ic cancer 3 1/2 years ago at age
47. About a year later, his fam-
ily started the Sam Young
Memorial Fund at the Jewish
Community Center.
The interest from the en-
dowment fund helps raise mo-
ney for scholarships for
youngsters who can't afford to
take part in the JCC's summer
day camp program, especially
sports activities.
It costs about $600 for a child
to attend a four-week camp ses-
sion. Mort Plotnick, executive
director of the JCC, estimates
about 600 of the 1,400 campers
each year must attend on a
scholarship, so money is always
needed.
With kids and sports in-
volved, Mr. Young's family
thought the fund was a perfect
tribute.
Even though he was an All-

City football player at Detroit's
Mumford High School, rac-
quetball was a special sport for
Mr. Young. He was one of the
Detroit area's first racquetball
pros while he served as athlet-
ic director of the former South-
field Athletic Club from
1972-79.
Mr. Young left the club to
open a scrap-metal business,
but he continued to play rac-
quetball, and play it well.
Among his many titles was the
1979 Michigan State Doubles
Championship.
In an effort to "go public" with
the Sam Young Memorial
Fund, his family decided to hold
a fund-raising racquetball tour-
nament. That dream will be-
come a reality Oct. 8-10 at
Franklin Racquet Club.
The tax-deductible entry fee
is $75, with $65 going into the
fund. The other S10 is for light
snacks which will be available
throughout the tournament and
a Saturday afternoon luncheon

which will feature door prizes.
The entry deadline is Sept. 27.
"We hope to get 100 players
and raise $6,500," said Gail
Young, Mr. Young's widow, a
West Bloomfield resident. "My
sons and I thought a racquet-
ball tournament was a perfect
way to raise money. Sam was a
member at Ftanklin and taught
racquetball there, so we figured
that would be a good place to
hold it."
The sons are Mike, 25, who
lives in Chicago, and Robert, 23,
who resides in West Bloomfield.
They are on the tournament
committee along with Howard
Kravitz, Dr. Fred Lewerenz, Er-
win Lieberman, Gary and Sam
Meklir (Mrs. Young's brothers),
Bob Szuch and world-ranked
racquetball player Mike Yellen.
Lieberman, owner of PVL,
Inc., in Royal Oak, an advertis-
ing specialty and premium in-
centives business, was Mr.
Young's best friend Besides be-
ing on the comini e, he's pro-

viding shirts for all the tourna-
ment competitors and the door
prizes.
Teams for the all-doubles,
single-elimination tournament
will be selected in a blind draw,
with each duo getting one top-
level player and one low-level
player. The squads will be
posted on Oct. 1 to give players
a chance to practice together.
Starting times will be available
after 4 p.m. Oct. 6.
Each match will be a best-of-
three format with games going
to 15. There will be an 11-point
tie-breaker. Eye guards are
mandatory. The top finishers
will receive trophies.
Yellen, who worked for Mr.
Young as a towel boy at the
Southfield Athletic Club, will be
helping with the draw along
with Kravitz, Szuch and Joe
Charette.
Szuch and Charette, the rac-
quetball directors at Franklin,

ACE page 48

