EAST PROVIDENCE — As first attempts go, the inaugural East Providence High School Family Doubles Tennis Tournament, sponsored by the Friends of Townies Athletics booster organization, held Saturday, June 10, at the new Townie Tennis Center was a resounding success.

In the end, the father-son duo of Laurent and Justin Petion defeated the brother pairing of Jaydon and Jared Amaral, 12 games to eight, in the single set match for the championship. Jared Amaral, a sixth-grader, was the youngest competitor to participate in the event. Jaydon Amaral and Justin Petion, both doubles players at the varsity level, were key members of the boys' squad this past spring.

In the third-place match, another father-son duo, Ken and Ryan Jansef, beat the mother-son combo of Melissa and Brayden Rouette, 8-4. Ryan Jansef was a sophomore on the boys' team while Brayden Rouette was the No. 3 singles player for the Townies in the spring of 2023.

In all, 24 tandems composed mostly of current male and female EPHS players along with either a parent or a sibling took part in the event, which is being used as a fundraiser for the entire tennis program.

As in the consolation outing, matches were decided when a team won eight games and by a margin of two. Games were played with no-ad scoring, meaning once at "deuce" or 40-40, the team that took the next point won. The championship match was the only one of the event to be played best-of-12.

The focus of the event was as a fund-raising activity. It brought in a total of $2,655, most of the sum being earmarked for the purchase of a ball machine for the teams to use during practice. Slade Sharma, the head coach of both squads, said he would also like to buy hitting backboards for the courts, especially now that there are combined over 60 student-athletes involved in the sport from both genders.

"The family doubles tournament was incredible to see. Having all these parents come out and run the risk of looking silly in front of their own kids," said Sharma. "The support they showed us was incredible. I told my players all the way leading up to this was that the tennis teams have never asked anything of our parents, as soon as we did, they delivered. Not only was it successful in raising enough money to upgrade our training devices, but it was such a fun time for everyone."

If Sharma has his way, the tournament will be the first of many. He intends to open the field up to not only current players and their families, but next year and thereafter also to alums of both teams.

"I do intend for this event to be an annual one," Sharma added. "Unifying the boys' and girls' teams and getting their families involved is special. I’m not sure if it’s been done before in this capacity but I hope we get to see many more of these events for the tennis teams."