Tennis - Youth development is the best foundation for success |21 July 2018

Grassroots tennis through a well-prepared school programme and tennis education is the best approach to ensure a good foundation for success, International Tennis Federation development officer for East and Central Africa, Thierry Ntwali has said.

Mr Ntwali spent last week in the country as part of his development visits to member countries to see the sport’s development programme, have an idea of the various challenges they are facing and also to listen to their constraints.

During his working visit, Mr Ntwali met with sports principal secretary Fabian Palmyre and the outgoing chief executive of the National Sports Council (NSC) Giovanna Rousseau where they discussed how to promote tennis in the country and also how to boost development through grassroots tennis through school programmes.

“Development is about the big number of people who play and then from the lot, you can choose players who are better performing,” explained Mr Ntwali.

Commenting on local tennis as a whole, Mr Ntwali said he is satisfied with the effort being done by the sport’s governing body, the Seychelles Tennis Association (STA), due to the fact that it is a new committee and it is fresh out of a transition period.

He noted that since his last visit in 2016 when the committee was newly appointed, local players have been taking part in various competitions.

This, he said, is a good sign as it proves that Seychelles has not been out of tennis.

Mr Ntwali has been heavily involved in tennis in East Africa for the past decade, working for the Rwanda Tennis Federation and the National Olympic Committee of Rwanda.

He has also fulfilled roles as Davis Cup captain, national coach and coordinator for the ITF Junior Tennis Initiative in Rwanda.

Mr Ntwali leaves the country today.

R. D.