Dunlop will team up with the Sri Lanka Tennis Association in an initiative to take the sport to the outstation areas of the country. The JTI program which is the international motive undertaken by the International Tennis Federation will be carried forward to almost all of the provinces in the country through the SLTA reaching the grass root level.
The Sri Lanka Tennis governing body which is the Sri Lanka Tennis Association celebrates its centenary this year and thereby has launched the Tennis 10s initiative in an attempt to connect the country with racket sport. Speaking at the press conference Mr. Iqbal Bin Issack, President of the SLTA expressed his views stating that the Tennis 10’s initiative will allow schools to start sport at the junior level without the additional requirement of a playing tennis court.
With the Tennis 10s segment, schools can now conduct training sessions without the presence of a tennis court for players who take up the sport below the under 14 age groups. The only change from the normal tennis format I,s the use of the red ball. This will allow tennis practices to be conducted in any hard cement surface.
The primary intention will be to increase the number of players taking up the sport from the other regions of the country. Speaking at the media briefing, Mr. Barathraj Pillai pointed out that the absence of proper tennis courts around the country has hindered the country’s steady progress in the sport. The district of Gampaha which is Colombo’s neighbor unfortunately has no single tennis court. This will be one area the initiative will be looking at while plans are underway to construct courts in the eastern region.
Mr. Issack provided a detailed Infosys of the availability of the playing courts in the country as well. Currently Sri Lanka comprises of an average 200-250 courts distributed around the island. These courts are maintained by the respective sports clubs and are affiliated to the SLTA.
The Tennis 10’s program will consist of three primary parts. The first will be the red ball where the basics of the sport can be practiced in flat surface. The SLTA committee will first introduce this phase to a target number of schools and then move on to the orange ball. Looking at the response shown by the school authorities, the SLTA will look to provide financial funding to the respective schools to put up the playing court.
Sri Lanka’s Dunlop Representative Ralhum Trading Company will key in as the main sponsor for the program. Speaking at the briefing, the Managing Director M.M. Mohammed mentioned that his organization is elated to partner this initiative and it was his goal to help any sport in the grass root level as he feel this is neglected in many areas.
Mr. Issack further added that through this programme, they would be able to bridge the gap between Colombo and the rest of the country and build the foundation to pave way for prospective talents in the racket game in the future.
