THE RIGHT WAY: Lawn Tennis Association of Malaysia (LTAM) development officer Taisto Sikkonen (left) in action while he conducts the LTAM Tennis 10s programme recently
KUCHING: The Lawn Tennis Association of Malaysia (LTAM) Tennis 10s programme which was held at the Sarawak Lawn Tennis Association (SLTA) grounds was concluded successfully recently.
The programme, which was adopted from the International Tennis Federation (ITF)’s “Play and Stay” programme, was conducted by LTAM development officer Taisto Sikkonen. It was to basically introduce tennis to young kids and let them have a choice of taking up what sports they want.
“I am very impressed with the development of tennis here in Sarawak. I am also glad to have a passionate and enthusiastic group of people attending this programme today,” he said.
For the record, it will be mandatory for tennis competitions and players aged 10-and-Under to be played with slower red, orange and green balls on the appropriate sized courts, while the traditional yellow ball will no longer be permitted for 10-and-under competition.
“This will be the ticket to strengthening and developing SLTA’s already strong junior development programme. In this format, tennis is at its easiest to learn, its inexpensive, can be played on a wide variety of surfaces so we can target an even greater number of kids and get them into the sport as fast as possible.
“We will continue to promote tennis in Sarawak, especially among the younger generation. For our junior development, we are targeting the schools here as part of our programme,” informed SLTA president Dato Patrick Liew.
Liew continued that he was impressed with the participants especially the trainees from the Samarahan Teachers Training College as they have shown great enthusiasm. They have also requested to become volunteers to help SLTA in any of their future competition and events.
“We welcome their participation in helping us out. They have also been briefed on the career prospects not only in playing tennis, but umpiring in tennis as well,” he added.
With the aim to bring more youngsters into the sport, the programme can help them experience relative success rather quickly and make the game as interesting and attractive as possible to them at a young age. Starter players play the game outright from their first lesson.
Renowned players like Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Justine Henin, as well as tennis equipment manufacturers have shown support for the campaign. It is supported by the top ITF nations too. - www.theborneopost.com
