THE 2016 KIA Independence Tennis Classic has brought a record number of players to the National Tennis Centre in Beausejour – Gros Islet. The event now into its fifth year has over 150 players pairing up in male/female duos in a number of age categories.
Tennis is alive and well at the NTC, according to the 1st vice president of the St.Lucia Tennis Association Trevor Hunte in his brief remark on Saturday when he welcomed the sponsors and participants to the KIA Independence Classic that has now grown in popularity.
Marketing Manager at Northwest/KIA Motors Limited Larry Bain was elated when he said: “Wow! This is fantastic! This is amazing! This is fabulous! We are so privileged to be a part of this. We started this journey five years ago. And there wasn’t much of a tournament at all. We had a vision of where we could actually get to and what we could actually make happen with our sponsorship. It’s beginning to happen”.
Bain added: “Just looking at the landscape, things are beginning to change. I am looking at these beautiful faces and the demographic that we now see with the young players. And it’s all beginning to grow and grow and grow. And it couldn’t happen without the collaboration of all – and that is not just the association, not just the National Tennis Centre, not just the parents and the players and the Minister for Youth Development and Sports, but our involvement. I am so proud to have asked Blue Waters to join us this year. Because we want to welcome more and more private sector involvement in the growth of sport”.
The parliamentary representative for Gros Islet, Emma Hippolyte who has never missed a KIA Tennis Opening Ceremony recognized the efforts of the many parents present. She said: “We have students that we have sent out on the field of play – whether it is football, tennis or any sport; but what makes a difference to those students is when their parents are there to cheer them on and to encourage them. And for this tennis centre, the parents are always here”.
She continued: “It is also very fitting that you have chosen to have this tournament year after year during our independence celebration. This is a tournament with national significance and prominence on our sporting calendar. It also ensures continuity and growth. And as I look over the past four years how the tournament has grown, what I note of profound gratitude is the landscape and ecosystem that we have at the moment. When I came here four years ago, the faces of the players were very different. And now you have a very different mix, which is more representative of the constituency and of the country. So I want to thank you for that support and for opening the sport of tennis to all of St. Lucia”.
General Manager at the National Tennis Centre Buzz Erlinger-Ford said he knows the government is committed to the development of sports which has come a long way from the days when sports was a sort of paid token attention to keep people happy and give them something to do in their spare time. Sports have now become adopted as a very serious approach to the betterment of our nation”.
Erlinger-Ford reported that at present there were approximately 250 students playing tennis as part of their school’s curriculum. He said the grassroots programme was growing and this was indicated by the fact that people who would have never been exposed to the opportunity to play a sport like tennis are learning and growing in their skill. This was all due to the fact that they now have a home for tennis at the National Tennis Centre.
