Tennis is trending with increasing numbers of young people learning the sport. The focus of The Bahamas Lawn Tennis Association (BLTA) is to develop a viable pool of new players. The adage of no child left behind rings through as The BLTA has extended an invitation to all children ages 5-15. With the growing interest, the Program has extended the offerings with an extra session in order to accommodate the new athletes.
Top juniors were on hand Saturday to assist in the sessions. Anthony Burrows Jr., Dentry Mortimer Jr. and Maddisan Bowleg all took the time to give back to the program. These players have travelled and played tennis internationally. Using the skills and experience they possess these juniors are seeded into the next generation of players. Coaches Paula Whitfield, Denise Mortimer, Esther Newton, Barry Usher and Matteo Smith also worked with the kids.
Development is a pillar on which the administration has been building, block by block. We are seeing the fruits of the labour of the Play Tennis program which has been running consistently over the last three years. The program was rebranded from the $1-a-day to Play Tennis reflecting the goal of young kids starting to actually play tennis from day 1. The low cost of $1 has removed the pricing barrier to the sport. All of the equipment is provided by the BLTA and safety measures are in place.
The Royal Bank of Canada is proud to support the community is also supporting this Tennis initiative that is touching so many lives. The medium of Tennis continues to inspire, educate and transform the lives of children. As the BLTA continues to work towards tennis sustainability the support from each and everyone has helped towards this endeavour.
President Newton stated “We will have a stronger, better Bahamas through tennis. We must seek to give our children more opportunities through sports and Tennis is a great sport. They learn skills they can use on and off the court. This program develops their tennis skills and their character. The sport is open to all kids. There are no barrieron. We encourage parents to enrol their kids into one of the sessions.”
Original Post Date: 24/10/2021
