About The McDrew
How it all started...
Kevin and John organized their initial tennis event in the 1st grade at Blessed Sacrament School. In the Spring of 1962, along with Tom Jennings and David Humphreville, they put together a grade school doubles tennis team and scheduled matches with Little Flower and St. Al’s. It was Easter Weekend in 1962 when BS met St. Al’s at the Lincoln Park Tennis Court. St. Al’s had a rag tag team with Mike Aiello and John Kulek as their number one doubles team (and only team). McDrew stepped aside in that match and allowed the Jennings/Humphreville team to make short work of Aiello/Kulek. The next month, on Mother’s Day, Jennings/Humphreville were dispatched to take on the Little Flower team of Tim Norris and Greg O’Brien. The Norris/O’Brien team insisted on playing the match on a temporary court constructed on Circle Drive. Didn’t matter. Jennings/Humphreville crushed them. This was the first of many encounters St. Al’s and Little Flower (“Big Weed”) dudes had with the BSS guys and the outcome was always the same. Tennis, basketball, baseball, it did not matter.
Fast forward to the Summer of 1971 and 1972. Kevin and John were working at Oak Ridge Cemetery and had a tendency to get sent home by the foreman for unsubstantiated allegations of misbehavior. Neither could actually “go home” so they went from Oak Ridge to the Lincoln Park Tennis Courts to work on their games for the remainder of the shortened work day. With sharpened tennis skills, they were ready to take the next step and try out for the initial Griffin High School Tennis team in the Spring of 1974. As things turned out, this was the birth of the McDrew.
Details are sketchy at this point but there is no doubt that John Sankey and Dan Kepner had a pivotal role in the creation of the McDrew. At tryouts for the Griffin Team in April of 1974, one shut out Kevin and one shut out Dog. Both Kevin and John appealed their cause with Coach VanDiver but were told to pack up and get out, you guys are done. Well, they were not.
In the early summer of 1974 before John left Springfield for West Point and Kevin for Champaign, the first McDrew was held at Lincoln Greens Tennis Center on Lake Springfield. There were about ten teams entered and no one touched McDrew. The McDrew was born and continues to this day. It has been a wonderful ride.
John Drew is a co-founder of the McDrew Charity Tennis Classic, a member of the Canary Foundation Leadership Council which is focused on the early detection of cancer, a board member of RapidAI which enables better outcomes for stroke patients, a board member of Triple Impact Connections which creates jobs for military spouses, a board member of cognitive exchange which helps military service members transition into civilian life and an ardent supporter of Sentinels of Freedom which assist severely wounded post 9/11 veterans pursuing meaningful civilian careers. He also serves on the board of reworktraining.org which trains and places Black and Hispanic candidates from overlooked communities into good paying SaaS sales jobs.
Kevin N. McDermott is an attorney engaged in private practice in Springfield, Illinois, since 1990. He received a B.S. and M.S.W. from the University of Illinois- Champaign, along with an M.P.H. from the University of Minnesota-Minneapolis and a J.D. from St. Louis University. In conjunction with his private practice and since 2006, Mr. McDermott has served as the Sangamon County Public Guardian and Administrator. Mr. McDermott is a National Certified Guardian and his law practice is focused on the elderly, guardianship, probate and small business matters throughout the State of Illinois. Along with John L. Drew, Kevin is the co-founder and director of the McDrew Tennis & Jazz Festival which has generated nearly $500,000.00 for charitable organizations in Springfield and Central Illinois, during its 48 year history. Mr. McDermott loves his family and life long McDrew friends, and is an avid swimmer, kayaker, sailor, bike rider, hiker and dog walker, and an enthusiastic fan of tennis, the Fighting Illini, St. Louis Cardinals, and the Y. Kevin resides in Springfield with his dog, Doc, and can be contacted at Kevin@KevinNMcDermott.com or www.KevinNMcDermott.com .