Sarasota Herald-Tribune covers cancer survivor Tim Berg ’14 in Vitale Tennis Tournament
Bates’ No. 1 tennis player, Tim Berg ’14, is back home in Lakewood Ranch, Fla., this weekend competing in an intercollegiate tennis tournament fundraiser hosted by ESPN broadcaster Dick Vitale.
Tim Berg ’14 of Lakewood Ranch, Fla., plays at the No. 1 spot for Bates men’s tennis team. (Phyllis Graber Jensen/Bates College)
The tournament, featuring mostly NCAA Division I players, has a bit more meaning for Berg than others, says columnist Mic Huber of the Sarasota Herald-Tribune.
Seven years ago, Berg underwent surgery and chemotherapy to treat a cancerous tumor behind his left eye. Vitale, a fellow Lakewood Ranch resident, learned of Berg’s battle back then and today remains a fan.
“It gives me the chills, because I remember the whole scenario and what he went through,” Vitale tells the Herald-Tribune. “It is going to be great, him playing in this tournament. … You can’t keep this kid down. He is resilient. He is tough-minded. I don’t know what he will do in tennis but it doesn’t matter because he is going to make it in the game of life.”
Proceeds from the Lakewood Ranch Dick Vitale Intercollegiate Tennis Tournament go to the V Foundation for Cancer Research, established by Jim Valvano in 1993 shortly before his death from cancer.
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