Tennis tournament will honor Cape Coral pioneer, raise money for Alzheimer’s Foundation

Joe Winslett Summer Classic Tennis Tournament set for Aug. 16.

Tennis players from across Southwest Florida will be “Fighting Alzheimer’s With Every Serve” to honor a Cape Coral tennis pioneer while also continuing to bring awareness to those with Alzheimer’s disease.

The Courts Cape Coral will host the inaugural Joe Winslett Summer Classic Tennis Tournament on Aug. 16.

The benefit tournament will feature ladies doubles (3.0, 3.5 and 4.0) and men's doubles (3.0, 3.5 and 4.0) in a round robin format with an elimination format depending on the draw.

Lisa Zuk, general manager, The Courts Cape Coral, met Joe after his wife Venita began attending tennis clinics at the Yacht Club, where her progress was immediate.

“Venita was one, I honestly felt her progress, she is like a 4.0 now, her advancement was very quick. So I got pretty close with Venita with lessons and clinics and through that she introduced me to Joe.”

“Joe was always just a really cool guy,” Zuk said. “He was always very laid back, at the club a lot, he played most mornings. I got to know Joe a bit more because he was such a handyman, always willing to help out of the goodness of his heart. Everyone loved him.””

Venita said her husband was always active but his love of tennis came about because he missed her.

“He never really played tennis much, but he started playing because I got so heavily into it,” she said. “He said to me ‘I guess if I’m ever going to see you I better learn how to play, at least I’ll see you on the court!'”

“Then when he started playing he fell in love with the game, he was as obsessed as I was, if not more,” she said. “He’d go out at 6 in the morning with the guys, he’d get there early, make sure there was no trash, help clean the courts, he just loved, loved playing and being around all the people.”

Pat Monaghan, a close friend of Winslett and his wife Venita, echoed Venita’s comments about Joe and his love of the game and the type of man he was.

Monaghan met Winslett years ago while watching him play tennis at the Yacht Club. In typical Winslett fashion, he asked him to play and they became fast friends.

“Joe is one of those guys who just always ‘showed up’,” said Monaghan. "He was always the first guy there, he’d ride his bike to the Yacht Club from his home on Skyline, in the dark, to get the court prepared, umbrellas up so it was ready. He was a self-made player, never took a lesson, just taught himself. He and Venita were just iconic there.”

Monaghan said Winslett was always active, whether it was mountain biking, riding motorcycles or boating.

“He was much more mechanically inclined than I was, I still have the TV on my boat he installed,” said Monaghan. “He was just a no nonsense type of guy, a hard-working dude. I really enjoyed our time together.”

However Joe and Venita’s life changed when he began to show signs of Alzheimer’s. 

“In the beginning, we were completely shocked. As it progressed he said he was going to go as fast and as long and hard as he could,” Venita said. “Then we got into some drug trials. His thing was ‘I know they’re never going to help me but if I can do anything to help progress knowledge of Alzheimer’s or to save other people that’s what I’ll do.'”

Venita said the condition began a few years before it was diagnosed.

“Little things that he would forget were happening,” she said. “Like he was impeccable with directions. You could blindfold him in the forest, spin him around and ask him to point north and he would. And he started not being good at directions which was an odd thing. I would say things to him and he would say I never told him that. I put a note in his wallet with my name and number in case of an emergency. He asked me who Venita was. He finally realized it was not good and said there is something wrong.”

They visited Lee Memory Health where preliminary tests were conducted which led to more detailed MRIs and further depth testing. 

However it was a comment coldly delivered from a healthcare specialist that said “today is the best day of the rest of your life” that made them realize the magnitude of his condition.

Now, a few years later, Venita is working to not only honor her husband through her association with the Alzheimer’s Foundation but she also has begun to play again the game they both loved so much after putting her racket down for a few years.

“I still struggle, it’s hard for me. I miss him greatly, we were together for more than 40 years,” she said. “So I’m trying to do things that I know he would want me to do. We both loved tennis, it was such a connection for us, so getting back into it gives me that connection.”

Zuk, who lost her grandfather to Alzheimer’s, hopes to make the Winslett Summer Classic an annual event. The idea for the tournament came about when Zuk met with Venita hoping to plan a way to bring awareness to Alzheimer’s in Joe’s memory. 

“If it’s a success, yes I would like it to be an annual event, I feel as we get along with the amount of people we have so far, it will be. This event is special because it’s Venita and Joe,” she said. “He was such a big part of the Yacht Club that I’d say about 90% of the people that play at The Courts came from the Yacht Club and most knew Joe. After the Yacht Club was destroyed in the hurricane people could have gone to play anywhere. But we had such a tight-knit community, and Joe was such a huge part of that, which is amazing, to have so many go from public courts to here.”

The cost to take part in the tournament is $45 per person, which includes lunch.

A portion of the proceeds will be going to fight Alzheimer's, with 100 percent of a raffle also going to battle the disease.

In addition to hosting the Summer Classic for tennis enthusiasts, the raffle will offer an opportunity to win prizes including weekend getaways, restaurant gift cards, golf packages, and much more.

You do not need to participate in the tennis tournament to take part in the raffle.

Tickets can be purchased up to Aug. 16 at The Courts at Cape Coral pro shop adjacent to the Sun Splash Family Waterpark on Santa Barbara. Raffle tickets will go for $5 for items valued at less than $200 and $20 for those $200 and above. 

Aug. 13 is the cut off date to register to participate in the tennis tournament. Zuk hopes to have 70 players take part.

Proceeds from the tournament and the raffle donations, will go to the “Walk to End Alzheimers” organization.

The Courts Cape Coral is at 402 S.W. 2nd Ave., off Santa Barbara Boulevard and W. Lake Kennedy Drive.

For more information on the Joe Winslett Summer Classic Tennis Tournament visit playthecourtscapecoral.com.