The Sport of Giving, Inc. History Milestones

Volley For A Cure was founded by Sheila Stevens, when her mother, Joan Glover fell victim to cancer. Stevens persuaded her neighborhood friends at TPC Sugarloaf to rally with her in the fight against breast cancer. In doing so, the 1st Annual Volley For A Cure tennis event raised $22,000 for the benefit of the DeKalb Hospital Breast Cancer Research Fund. "The idea for the event came out of my passion for tennis and my love of the Lord. Put the two together and BIG things can happen!" states Sheila. From the start, Volley For A Cure proved to be a shining example of a "grass roots" fund raising event.

Volley For A Cure 2002 raised $58,000 to benefit the Gwinnett Hospital System Foundation's Time Matters campaign to renovate and expand the center for diagnostic mammography and support services for breast cancer patients at the Gwinnett Women's Pavilion.

Volley For A Cure 2003 grew to accommodate 96 players who participated at TPC Sugarloaf and Old Towne Tennis Club. Proceeds over $83,000 benefited the Gwinnett Hospital Foundation's Time Matters campaign to purchase a Mobile Mammography Care-A-Van.

Volley For A Cure 2004 expanded to include 300 participants from TPC Sugarloaf, Summit Chase Country Club and Laurel Springs Country Club. $116,000 was donated to upgrade to state-of-the-art digital mammography technology through Gwinnett Hospital System's Time Matters campaign.

VolleyFest 2005 brought a new name with returning events at TPC Sugarloaf, Summit Chase Country Club and Laurel Springs with the addition of two new venues, St. Marlo and St. Ives Country Club. "The Pink Party" annual kickoff was established for all participants and sponsors to celebrate individual events together. $158,000 was donated to Gwinnett Hospital Foundation’s Time Matters campaign.

VolleyFest 2006 added The River Club and Hamilton Mill to our list of participating VolleyFest venues. The inaugural SwingFest Golf Event was held at TPC Sugarloaf with 24 ladies bringing a different kid of swing to our fundraising effort. $175,000 was donated to Gwinnett Hospital System's Time Matters campaign and $5,000 was donated to Bosom Buddies Georgia for low cost mammograms.

VolleyFest 2007 played host to The River Club’s inaugural RunFest event for families to participate in a 5K competitive or short 1-mile fun run. Collins Hill Athletic and Windward Club joined our list of nine venues hosting VolleyFest tennis tournaments. $215,000 was donated to Gwinnett Medical Duluth in support of the establishment of a dedicated Center for Screening Mammography and $25,000 was donated to Northside Hospital-Forsyth for a technologist workstation on a mobile unit, ScreenAtlanta.

The Sport of Giving 2008 brought a new parent name and updated logos. As the organization approached the one million dollar mark in cumulative giving, it was the appropriate time for the traditional events of VolleyFest, SwingFest and RunFest to operate under a more inclusive name, The Sport of Giving. Olde Atlanta Club & Country Club of the South joined the list of ten VolleyFest Tournament venues. Country Club of the South and The River Club hosted RunFest events and The River Club joined TPC

The Sport of Giving 2010 has brought about a national campaign to spread access to joing us in our fight against womens cancers.  We invite you to join us by hosting your own sporting event.  We have created event kits to make your experience easy, meaningful and profitable for your benefactor.  For more information contact us at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it . 

The Sport of Giving 2012 has now given over $1,600,000 to fight women's cancers in our community.  Many new events were added this year, such as  Men's Golf "Challenge" and our 5K Roc n' RunFest at Lake Lanier Islands. The Sport of Giving received USTA Atlanta's Serving Winner "Making a Difference" Award. The year brought about donations to fight ovarian and cervical cancers.  The fight against ovarian cancer is still an uphill battle, as there are no real symptoms "warning signs", or screening like there is for breast cancer.  Many strides are being made to try to get some screening tools.  We are joining this journey to fight this "silent cancer".