Renovation of Roche Caïman tennis courts |14 July 2023
Mr Ntwali is a souvenir photo with PS Jean-Louis and Ms Kanté (Photo: Neil Sirame)
Final timeframe agreed by the ITF and Seychelles government
The international Tennis Federation and the Seychelles government have reached an agreement on a start and finish period for the renovation project of the Roche Caïman tennis courts, following delay in the work which were initially supposed to be completed in May this year.
The project costing US $136,250 is supposed to be jointly sponsored by the Seychelles government and the International Tennis Federation (ITF).
The contract agreement for the renovation work was signed in late December last year by the then chief executive of the National Sports Council (NSC) Jean Larue on behalf of the government and Mehmet Saltik on behalf of Türkiye-based, Mekra Tennis Ltd which was supposed to carry out the work.
ITF development officer for East & Central Africa, Thierry Ntwali who was on a working visit in the country received the confirmation on behalf of the government from principal secretary for youth and sports Ralph Jean-Louis following a meeting on Wednesday, in the presence of Fatime Kanté, president of the Seychelles Tennis Association (STA) and on Tuesday July 11 in a meeting with Gyra Nibourette from the sports department and Jitesh Shah, chief executive (CEO) of the Seychelles Infrastructure Agency (SYA).
Here to review and assess projects initiated since his last visit in 2019, especially the junior tennis initiative, Mr Ntwali’s visit was also to see and assess the progress in regards to the renovation work.
He made it clear that there is a six-month timeframe that the ITF gives for initiated projects to be completed, and based on discussions with CEO Jitesh Shah, PS Jean-Louis and National Sports Council (NSC) CEO Marc Arissol the work is expected to begin in August, and to be completed in October.
“I received the commitment from the government that they are still committed to the project and that it will be completed in the proposed timeframe,” said Mr Ntwali.
For the renovation project which is costing US $136,250, the ITF is contributing US $40,000 and, Mr Ntwali noted that all the relevant partners must each play their respective roles.
He said there can be no more delays since the rainy season is approaching soon, and this, he said, will further delay the project.
He added that he will return to the country in October to officially open the new tennis facilities.
“It would be a great advantage for Seychelles and the Seychelles Tennis Association (STA) to have a new modern tennis infrastructure where it will not only attract more potential players but will also meet the ITF’s criteria to host international events, where both the sport and the tourism industry will benefit,” added Mr Ntwali.
Junior tennis initiative programme
After receiving the reports on the Junior Tennis Initiative, Mr Ntwali commended Miss Kanté and the STA for their success in promoting tennis in schools and attracting more youth to tennis.
“From what I have gathered I can say that since the launch of the junior tennis initiative, the STA has accumulated over 400 kids across the three main islands and if you compare it to the percentage of the population you will realise the growth and when they get new facility, I am very positive that the number will triple,” said Mr Ntwali.
According to him, the relationship between the STA and ITF has never fainted even during the Covid-19 pandemic where they were in continuous communication due to the fact that tennis was amongst the few sports that were allowed to play during the pandemic.
“We have been in contact with them during the Covid-19 pandemic and afterwards also, communication between the two parties has never broken down,” he added.
He noted that 2023 will be one of the best years for ITF East Africa as they will be having more events and tournaments. “We have moved from 17 junior events that count for the ITF Junior ranking to 30 weeks of event in the region today,” noted Mr Ntwali.
He further explained that during the pandemic, the ITF had more talks with all national associations about the understanding and commitment of the game, and following that, the leadership was more aware of what strategy to put in place which is why events have been booming in the region.
“Things are moving gradually for Seychelles, and this year they were able to take part in the Billie Jean king and Davis Cup which is an added-value for the country and the U-12 who will be taking part in overseas events, showing that the relationship is going well,” said Mr Ntwali, who further added that in two-weeks time, Seychelles will be hosting a play tennis course for coaches for starter players, which will be coordinated by a female expert from Kenya.
Professional champions are possible
Mr Ntwali said, getting high performance players such as Damien Laporte is attainable over time.
“We have to trust the process by having a consistent facility and setting achievable goals, giving it time every year,” he said, adding that you cannot produce a champion today, and that it is a process where you need to set some prerequisite to achieve before a champion can be made.
He added that when the new facility is ready, ITF will assist in developing a national training centre.
“After the learning process they will be able to produce a group of players who will get somewhere,” said Mr Ntwali.
He added that it is not a one-person job to sustain such ecosystem, but the national association, the NSC, and the government need to play their roles by hiring people, and also in terms of infrastructure and getting the leadership of the national association to get better knowledge on where they want to take things.
He urged the country to invest in development rather than in high performance which he said is best suited for long-term results.
“In sports it is better to have a long-term return on investment (ROI) than short term,” said the ITF development officer.
Breaking from social to competitive tennis
Meanwhile, speaking to Sports NATION, Miss Kanté, said they have reached out to all the schools in the country and through their talent identification programme, they have identified 400 kids.
She said, even with the grim infrastructure at Roche Caïman, there are many people who are still interested in playing tennis. “The current infrastructure can be one of the factors why some people are not so interested in tennis, but it is not the main factor, since there are players who have been using the facility for years and they are still playing, regardless of the situation but because of the love for the sport,” said Miss Kanté.
She said, through their talent identification programme they were able to differentiate between those who were passionate about the sport and those who came just for social tennis.
“Whenever we do a selection, it is very important to allocate the players in specific groupings, so that we know with whom we can work in 10 years and who are there for fun,” explained Miss Kanté, who further noted that, having a revamped and modern facility will not only increase the number of players they have, but will also help them to be on the international map of the ITF.
She said, Seychelles has never hosted an ITF event, and having an attractive facility which meets the requirements of ITF will also help STA to bring Seychelles’ tennis further.
In addition, she said, before they did not have much visibility, but now they have a website and also a strong presence on social media, while they are in the process of moving from social tennis to competitive tennis.
“We cannot play social tennis forever. There needs to be a mark set by the STA to reach to the region and further,” said Miss Kanté.
In their effort to promote the sport even more, Miss Kanté said the STA is planning to bring tennis into the community as they have done with the schools.
“Our role as an association is to make tennis accessible to all not just to a certain group and break the misconception that tennis is an expensive sport,” she added.
She said, for them to be able to reach and attract those people in the community, much support is needed and if funding is not coming from the players it has to come from somewhere.
She added that there are a lot of good elements and advantages from tennis, and as such, most of their players have been able to perform better in school.
“Our way forward is to elevate tennis, make it accessible in schools, in the community, while the main goal is to break from social tennis to competitive tennis,” said Miss Kanté who concluded by expressing her gratitude to the ITF for its continuous support, in the form of equipment and mentorship, and also assisting the STA endeavours in promoting tennis amongst the females.
Neil Sirame
