By Marlon Munroe
With plans currently afoot for the development of lawn tennis in Guyana, President of the Guyana Lawn Tennis Association (GLTA) Christopher Ram hopes that the sport can become a “truly national sport” for recreational and competitive purposes.
A replica of what St. Vincent and the Grenadines and St. Lucia have done to make tennis an integral element of sport tourism is also part of the GLTA’s vision for the sport.
With these ideas in mind, Ram revealed that the association is in consultations with the Sport Ministry for the establishment of a tennis centre with world class recognition.
He believes though for this plan to come to fruition there has to be the involvement of the business communities and the government and these bodies can then ask the Americans or Chinese to finance the construction of the centre . However, he said that it must be felt that it is viable to invest in lawn tennis.
“We are discussing with the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sport the establishment of a tennis centre meeting Davis Cup standard and that is going to be on the eastern side of the Racquet Centre. We are going to put up six courts and a good quality club house,” Ram said.
Regarding the business community he said, “So far all the signs have been positive and they give us room for further optimism.”
The Racquet Center is currently under rehabilitation at Non Pariel Park through Woolford Avenue. Ram also said it is uncertain whether there will be any grass courts, citing the high maintenance costs. He pointed out that the GLTA would make no pronouncements on the idea of having grass courts since it is also seeking technical advice from the world governing body International Tennis Federation (ITF).
The GLTA was also given a contact for the designer of the tennis centre in St. Lucia.
“So rather than inventing the wheel, we (GLTA) may very well be looking at that kind of structure and infrastructure that St. Lucia has. We are also thinking of arranging a visit to Suriname partly to play tennis but equally important to see what their facilities look like,” the recently elected GLTA president stated.
When Stabroek Sport enquired about what will be done for players who show exceptional talent Ram said “if we see these people we will be hoping to have them participate at the regional level, at the very least.”
Further, Ram was extremely optimistic that sometime in the future there could be a Davis Cup team coming out of the Caribbean, more particularly since his reflections took him back to the days when the sport was played on a higher level. “Guyana must be integrally part of the future of tennis certainly in the region. We will also be facilitating our younger players with scholarships to United States colleges and obviously they have to reach academic and athletic capabilities. But we are also hoping with the kind of training we intend to put them through with the coaches and coaching programme that we think is absolutely vital will pay off,” Ram maintained.
Currently, there are three active Level One coaches attached to the GLTA according to Ram but he is hoping by the end of the year the three coaches would be moving to the next level. He said that this will be a significant leap between the two levels and there have been promises by the coaches to lift their level.
Ram also pointed out that there are other coaches who are working with the GLTA that would have been exposed to coaching programmes.
However, lacking are the fulltime coaches and the requisite certification of the additional personnel. He hopes that in 18 months the GLTA will have some level two and at least six level one coaches to further strengthen the developmental thrust of the association.
When Stabroek Sport played devil’s advocate and asked whether the GLTA will fall into the trap of many associations that made elaborate plans which never materialized, Ram maintained that they are confident. He pointed out also that the association already has the drawings from the Civil Engineering Contractors for the courts they intend to construct.
“We are very confident because we have already got the money. Once we get the cost we then go to the respective sponsors with the cost, here is our Memorandum of Understanding, please sign on these lines and construction begins,” Ram quipped.
He said that by December there will be three newly constructed tennis courts in Georgetown and one at President’s College on the East Coast of Demerara.
Meanwhile, the Le Ressouvenir Tennis Court will be commissioned today at the East Coast Demerara village at 18:00 hours.
