The Guyana Tennis Association (GTA) in collaboration with the Guyana Tennis Coaches Association (GTCA) last weekend held an International Tennis Federation (ITF) Play and Stay course for coaches. The course, which began on Friday and ended on Sunday, was held at the Guyana Bank for Trade and Industry (GBTI) Recreational Facility Courts, Bel Air.
Totalling 21 hours, the course was held for seven hours each day and was conducted by Guyana’s only two ITF Level Two accredited coaches, Shelly Daly-Ramdyhan and Ezra Sue-Ho.
Speaking with Stabroek Sport, Daly-Ramdyhan said that the course was aimed at introducing new and existing coaches on the ITF “Play and Stay” system, which is being implemented in countries as a method of better assisting beginners in the sport.
The “Play and Stay” programme utilizes a three-stage system of lighter balls and smaller courts to make it easier for beginners to develop in the sport.
The course is also expected to be a prelude to the Level One coaching course that is scheduled to be held in September and is expected to be conducted by the ITF Development Officer for the English Speaking Caribbean, Anthony Jeremiah.
“We are trying to sell the Play and Stay campaign to the new coaches, to introduce them to the system,” Daly-Ramdyhan stated. “This was basically like a foundation course, an introduction to the Level One course that will be held in September.
“For this course, the objective really is to allow the coaches to get the start up players, meaning the beginner players, to serve, rally and score, using this play and stay system.
“We covered the introduction of the three different types of balls and the respective court sizes used in the play and stay system around the world,” she added.
Question as to the level of success of the course, Daly-Ramdyhan described the course as being very successful simply because they were able to carry out the objective of the course.
“Our job was to teach them the system and it was very successful. The response from the participants was wonderful, they now have a clear understanding (of the Play and Stay programme), they are pleased with it. This is the first programme of its kind that we have held in Guyana and we were very fortunate that we were able to have it hosted by local tutors because we have two level two coaches, in other countries sometimes persons would have to come into that country to conduct the course,” Daly-Ramdyhan noted.
A number of coaches participated in the course but while a number of teachers from the schools were invited only one teacher, from Essequibo managed to attend. (Tamica Garnett)
