Remember when you were 15 years old?

Scary, huh?

If you were anything like me, you were uninformed, uninspired, and certainly unorganized. Even had I wanted, I was incapable of organizing anything more than a 3-on-3 basketball game.

Thankfully, there are young people like Teah L.

Flynn of Farmington who have the ambition and ability to get things done.

Teah was 15 years old when she began thinking about a tennis tournament to benefit the fi ght against cancer. She got the idea after watching a CBS Morning Show about Washington University School of Medicine and its battle against cancer in St. Louis, Mo.

Researchers there hope to make cancer treatable - not with chemotherapy or radiation - but by isolating and treating the aff ected gene.

Flynn settled on a tennis relay event after a discussion with her grandmother, Daun L. Flynn.

“We were talking about world records and we wondered what the world record was for keeping a tennis ball in motion,” said Teah, who has been playing tennis since she was 6 years old. “After I saw the story on genomic cancer research, everything clicked.”

She organized a tennis rally last year at Pinnacle Country Club in Rogers that helped raise more than $3,800 for cancer research. She’s hoping for even better results next Saturday, Feb. 8, for a second “Keep The Ball In Motion” fundraiser at a handful of locations in Arkansas.

Tennis rallies will be held in eight states and in Arkansas at Farmington High School, the Fayetteville Athletic Club, Memorial Park in Bentonville and the Lake Village Country Club in addition to Pinnacle CC in Rogers. The local events are part of a larger fundraising effort that could involve more than 100 tennis relays on the same day.

The tennis relays will consist of up to six players an hour hitting tennis balls back-and-forth across the net for up to 12 hours. An entry fee of $10 per person is required and play begins at 9 a.m. at most sites.

All proceeds will go to the Washington University School of Medicine inSt. Louis, Mo., in their research against genomic cancer.

“If I can reach my goal, that would be 72,000 people participating,” said Flynn, who is now 16 years old and a junior at Farmington.

“With one donating $10, that would be $72,000, a lot of money that could really help genomic cancer research.”

Organizing and promoting a second tennis fundraiser isn’t the only pursuit that keeps Teah busy. She is a full-time student and tennis player with the Farmington Lady Cardinals. She and her partner, Haley Maxwell, placed second in the state last fall after winning the doubles championship in the 4A-1 Conference. Teah placed third in the state in singles the previous two years and she also produces “My Kid’s Point of View” TV segments for CATV.

So, why tackle cancer when she is already so busy being a teenager?

“Cancer affects so many people and it happens so fast,” said Teah, whose mother, Leah, was killed in a car accident in 2002. “Everybody would love to see a cure for cancer, but it takes time and money. That’s my motivation, and I’ve had a lot of support in doing this.”

Teah will have another year of high school before she heads to college. She’s leaning toward Arkansas, where she hopes to pursue degrees in marketing or business. Those decisions will come later.

For now, she’s focused on making Saturday’s tennis fundraiser bigger and more financially successful than last year. People can call 444-9922 or go to the website www.tennisrelay.org for more information. Those interested can also call the locations where the events will be held.

“You don’t have to be great at tennis to play,” Teah said. “As long as you can use a racquet and tennis ball, we want you to participate.

RICK FIRES IS A SPORTS WRITER FOR NEW MEDIA

Sports, Pages 7 on 02/02/2014