Sunshine School students get tennis special

Seventeen students of the Sunshine School, Bequia, last Wednesday, June 22, received their first exposure to the sport of tennis, courtesy of Grassroot Tennis Club (GTC).{{more}}

Head of the GTC Grant Connell and Trevor Sam, journeyed to the Grenadine island and engaged the physically and mentally challenged students in a few hours of tennis at a private court, located at Lower Bay.

Their visit comes on the heels of their attendance at a two-day training course held here last month, and which was conducted by Director of Sports and Training of Special Olympics Caribbean, Trinidadian David Benjamin.

The Bequia sojourn, an introductory session, paves the way for GTC’s full programme, which gets going at the start of the new academic year in September.

And, Principal of the Sunshine School Camille Jacobs told SEARCHLIGHT that she and the other members of her staff were delighted to have the GTC introduce tennis to the students.

“It was the first time, they (the students) were being exposed to tennis, as they got a feel of the racket, and they were very excited,” Jacobs said.

“It surely will help to boost their self-esteem; it gave them some physical activity and taught them to share and co-operate,” the school’s principal recalled.

Reflecting on last Wednesday’s experience, Connell recalled: “It was a good experience working with the kids and hopefully we can get some of the parents of the kids to join us on court with them when we come weekly.”

When the new academic year starts in September, GTC plans to offer tennis lessons to the students of the Sunshine School, once per week.

In challenging the other sporting disciplines, Connell stated, “It’s somewhat unfortunate that more disciplines don’t offer an opportunity for the kids to try the various sports; they are somewhat of the forgotten few, but this must change and the Grassroot Tennis Club would undertake to provide a coach every week to continue the programme.”

The Bequia progamme is another of the outreaches of the GTC involving such children with challenges. The weekly session for the School for Children with Special Needs goes ahead full steam, and has had the corporate backing of Digicel, in providing the attendees with another meaningful activity.

Looking to the future and unveiling some of GTC’s plans, Connell concluded, “there would be further developments in this area as soon possible, and as the club grows they would not be left behind.” (RT)