SLTA to implement new coaching program

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Eric Pietersz

The Sri Lanka Tennis Association will start on a new venture to develop the standards of the sport in the country with its new coaching program.

Photo Album – Appointment of National Tennis Coach – Eric Pietersz

Speaking at the press conference, the President of the Sri Lanka Tennis Association has finally succeeded in addressing the long-standing issue regarding a foreign coach after a series of discussions that were held with the sports minister over the past few months. The last time the country had the services of an overseas coach was during 2002-2005 where the Lankan junior teams were performing at an exceptional level; during that time period the men’s national title was also won by a 14 year old.

Since then Sri Lanka has failed in its attempts to compile a strong junior team or a strong second team for the Davis Cup which reflects directly on the state of the coaching level in the country. The coaching structure in the country for tennis has always been an assignment driven initiative and there has been no incentive for performance. This has been the drawback in the system and the SLTA hopes the re-structuring will bring in more players to the top segment.

According to the current coaching program, the SLTA has authorized a total of 9 academies around the country to carry out coaching from the junior levels. This has proved inefficient as the governing body spends an invaluable amount of time in getting a squad in place for the national contingent. Hereafter, the SLTA will only focus on the top performers in the division from the academies and then craft a national squad and carry out practices.

This has been the normal practice in other sports such as cricket and rugby where you play at your best in your respective clubs and academies and then get picked for the national contingent. Accordingly SLTA will also enact this formula in their coaching segment where the academies and clubs will be advised by the governing body.

Sri Lanka thus has employed the services of the former Netherland national coach Eric Pietersz who has been in the international coaching arena for over 20 years. Having coached the Netherlands for over 18 years, Eric had a short stint in Barcelona before taking up duties with the Malaysian Davis Cup team for two years.

Hence the top six seeds of each of the junior age groups from under 12 to under 18 in both boys and girls categories will be chosen for the SLTA squad to train under the mentorship of Eric Peters.

Speaking at the press conference, Eric added these words

“The reason that I came here was not for the climate but for a challenge. I read about Sri Lanka and its achievements in the past so I hope to bring back the good times back to the Sri Lanka Tennis Association during my stint as coach”