Minister with responsibility for Sport, Charles Ramson Jr., has committed to expanding the physical infrastructure of lawn tennis by transforming the tarmac outside of the National Gymnasium on Mandela Avenue, Georgetown, into a tennis facility which will be open to youths in the neighbouring communities.
The intention is to transform the facility into a functioning junior tennis academy, according to Cristy Campbell, vice-president of the Guyana Tennis Association (GTA).
During an interview with Stabroek Sport, Campbell explained that the minister acted on the advice of national junior coach, Andre Lopes, who is keen to use the opportunity to identify new and emerging talent and feed those to the broader national tennis programme at the National Racquet Centre. At present, the Racquet Centre is the hub for tennis development in the country.
“We’ll have more infrastructure,” Campbell opined.
“Our last meeting with the minister, approximately four weeks ago, where we met at the Gymnasium and remember the former Director of Sport [Chris Jones], had paved a portion of the Gymnasium tarmac for a tennis court…
“It’s just a tarmac for now but the minister and the association agreed that it should be used.
It will be broken up into four junior courts and we use that facility as a junior academy so that it can directly service children in that neighbourhood and as they advance, they’ll be sent to the Racquet Centre,” Campbell explained.
Minister Ramson Jr., since assuming his role as the country’s top sports administrator, had said he was keen on making the development of lawn tennis a major priority for his ministry during his tenure.
The minister made his intentions known during the launch of the recent GTA Safe Tournament, where he disclosed that the racquet sport, from his vantage point, has not been sufficiently looked after by previous government officials charged with the development of sports.
Ramson Jr., has been hot on the trail in his quest to interact with almost all of the local sports associations.
He has been hailed as one of the more visible ministers in the Dr. Irfaan Ali administration and pundits are keen to observe how his interactions with sports officials will be transformed into a comprehensive national sports policy.
