Question: Why are Winderemere Indian Wells agents Kerry Anderson, Sybill Allen, Sherry Owens, and Colleen Pappas all wearing fluorescent green uniforms?  To honor St Patrick’s Day? Good guess, but no shillelagh…when they’re not helping their clients buy and sell incredible Coachella Valley homes, they’re volunteering at the BNP Paribas Open.  The what?  The BNP Paribas Open!

Folks identify the Coachella Valley with a lot of wonderful things…perfect weather (always)…great dining, fabulous shopping, golf, and TENNIS.  The 37th BNP Paribas Open, the granddaddy of tennis tournaments, is held right here at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden. The 37th BNP Paribas Open is the largest combined professional tennis tournament in the world.  With play daily from March 11 through March 20, there are over 300 professional players with $9M in prize money (split equally between male and female pros). There’s plenty of room for everyone, too…Indian Wells Tennis Garden’s Stadium One is the second largest court in the world, with 16,100 seats. And right in the center of it all: volunteers Sybill Allen, Sherry Owens, Colleen Pappas, and Kerry Anderson (who has been volunteering with the tournament for 10 years). The professional tournament volunteer committees include ball kid coordinators, credentials, gates, information, lost & found, special events, transportation, ushers, and more. Aside from their love of the sport, the volunteers all appreciate that the tournament contributes to The Champions Volunteer Foundation which benefits youth recreational, educational and well-care programs including Foundation for the Retarded, Martha’s Kitchen, Palm Springs Stroke Activity Center, Boys & Girls Club, Shelter From the Storm, Gilda’s Club, Palm Desert Family YMCA, and the Coachella Valley Rescue Mission.

Oh, and for an extra point…who knows what the tournament is named after?  Give up? BNP Paribas, headquartered in Paris, is the world’s biggest bank.

See? Windermere has all the right answers.