In his latest column, NINO SEVERINO looks ahead to a very special event coming up
As for most people in this modern-day life, much of it is fast and furious, for me this has definitely been the case, with a documentary shoot about my late wife's life, and the final stages of our prestigious Sport and Business event being held at Milsoms, Kesgrave Hall in October sponsored by our world governing body the WTA, and Ipswich based Birketts LLP.
If any of you have been involved in organising a major event, you will know how many elements need to be addressed to present an evening that will be unforgettable for all the guests.
The Elena Baltacha Foundation team is working extremely hard to make our event in October one of the most significant sport and business experiences of our region, we want Ipswich to be the home of this very special evening that includes a host of sporting stars.
For me, having so many sporting celebrities attending will add just that extra special feel to the evening, individuals who have, or are competing at the highest level, and individuals who can be a shinning example to some of our young athletes who will be presented some prestigious awards as part of the evening, including The Serena and Venus Williams Vase.
We already have a confirmed list of sporting personalities including former Premiership and England Internationals Kieron Dyer and Ledley King, together they have a combined Premiership level amount of appearances totalling 488 matches, intertwined with 51 representations for their country.
I am also please to announce that we also now have official confirmation that Martyn Waghorn, ex-ITFC star striker will also be attending with his wife Leoni.
Martyn spent last year under the management of current Chelsea boss Frank Lampard, he now enjoys consistent first team status in the Championship Football League after last year making the play offs final at Wembley.
ITFC have also confirmed that the club will be officially represented by a full table of first team players, coaches and official club members.
Having athletes from a wide range of sports attending our event in October will without doubt add that very special universal sporting atmosphere.
Ramla Ali from the World of boxing will be attending, not only is she performing on the World stage of female boxing she is also creating a reputation for being a role model to young girls across a wide spectrum of nationalities and cultures.
Recently Ramla was one of 15 women who were invited to appear on the Duchess of Sussex's Vogue front page. This very special lady has shown that she can back up the photo shoots with a reputation that makes her one of the most feared female fighters in the World, winning both British and English boxing titles which are on the list of her great boxing achievements.
Our guests will also be joined by two great Olympic Gold medallists from the world of Hockey, Nicola White MBE, and Laura Unsworth, both seasoned Great Britain Internationals who know all about competing at the highest level of sport, with multiple Olympics, World and European Championships and Commonwealth Games on their list of life experiences.
This very powerful group of female athletes is also joined by an incredible World Class athlete who I know extremely well, our very own super talented marathon runner Helen Davies who owned the number one Great Britain ranking during 2019.
She has an incredible list of running achievements built on a fantastic record of racing experiences including the London Marathon, Commonwealth Games, European athletics Championships and numerous prestigious marathons that have been held across the World including the European Marathon Cup.
And from the world of tennis we have our guest of honour, the one and only Judy Murray, for me, one of the most inspirational women of the sporting coaching world.
She needs no introduction, being the driving force behind her sons who both achieved World No.1 status and who both can proudly be called Wimbledon Champions. A very special guest from tennis will also be joining Judy, and for any of you who knows anything about our sport, you will know that this man is recognised as one of the Worlds best tennis coaches, currently coaching Jamie and Andy Murray, individually and as part of the Great Britain Davis Cup team, he is of course, Louis Cayer.
The Judy Murray and Elena Baltacha Foundation event in October is a total sell out, I wanted to ensure that my EADT readers would have the opportunity to join me on this incredible evening of sporting celebration.
With this in mind I have held back eight seats to offer to my readers. If you would like to join one of the tables I am personally hosting, please contact me nino@elenabaltachafoundation.org I can promise this VIP group of EADT readers a spectacular evening, with the exciting prospect of a surprise sporting superstar appearance which I cannot announce at this point, I look forward to joining you on a sporting night that will be memorable for all, for so many reasons!
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