Grassroot to expand its operations

The Grassroot Tennis Club and the Onike Tennis Academy (OTA) will soon be working more closely for the futherance of the sport of Tennis.{{more}}

Head of the Grassroot Tennis Club, Grant Connell, told SEARCHLIGHT last Saturday that already Onike Spann, a Level Two coach, has officially joined the Grassroot set up, adding a higher degree of Tennis coaching expertise to the organisation.

Connell revealed that OTA, which operates at the Nutricia court at New Montrose, is earmarked for a facelift. He said that among the enhancements planned for Nutricia is the painting of the court in blue, similar to the Haddon Hotel courts, the site of the Grassroot operations.

Unveiling some of the other immediate plans to SEARCHLIGHT, Connell said this month will see the hosting of a major Junior Tennis Tournament from December 18-23, with the financial blessing of the SVG General Services.

But it will not be strictly an in house Grassroot affair, as the other clubs operating here are invited.

Apart from the Grassroot representation, participation should come from the X-Cel Tennis Academy, the Greathead Tennis School, OTA and Bonan Tennis School.

The tournament, Connell stated, “is purely developmental, with competition in Under-6, Under-8, Under 10 and Under -12.”

He said the Under-6 age category will be a novelty, as the children in that group will be involved in skill assessment drills as their form of competition. Connell is anticipating 36 participants in each of the age categories, which could push participation to close to over 140 young tennis players.

This will be the first tournament for Grassroot, which set up operations in February of this year.

Connell said that plans are being made to stage a major Senior Tennis Competition in the upcoming months. Grassroot also hopes to introduce Tennis to youngsters in the Southern Grenadines in the near future. (RT)