GTC maintains support for SCSN

The Grassroot Tennis Club (GTC) has, for the past five years, forged a relationship with the School for Children With Special Needs (SCSN).{{more}}

Over the years, the club and Digicel have developed a relationship that has served to bring an added dimension to the lives of the students of the school.

As part of the GTC’s fifth anniversary, the club last Tuesday put on a special day for the children at the Haddon Hotel courts, where they enjoyed a fun day with representatives of sponsors Digicel, the GTC team and members of the public.

The club, over the past five years, facilitated students of the school on Tuesdays with lessons in tennis, with the support of Digicel.

Reiterating the fact that disability is not inability, Digicel’s longest-serving marketing manager in the OECS, Juno DeRoche, who was present at last Tuesday’s event, said her company fully embraced the moment and indulged in a knock on court with her colleague, Danielle Cupid.

After they had both interacted with the children, assisting GTC coach Trevor Sam in the warm up exercises with the children, De Roche quipped, “I think the idea is a great initiative. I want to applaud Grant and his team, coach Trevor, who has been working over the years and I think more persons, more corporate entities should get involved.”

De Roche explained, “Right now we’re in the process of getting ready to send them off to the Special Olympics…Wherever there is a Digicel, we support Special Needs children… and have done so from the day we opened office in St Vincent.”

Marketing executive at Digicel Danielle Cupid, herself a tennis player from the age of 10 and who gained her university education through a tennis scholarship, remarked, “I think this is a great opportunity for the kids to come out, learn how to play, have fun and you never know where they could go with it…Special Olympics is coming up soon and I know tennis is part of that as well.”

GTC director Grant Connell says the event was very touching, they enjoyed themselves.

“I salute the efforts of coach Trevor Sam, who has dedicated his time to these special children and has done it by himself, after Deon Grant, who assisted him in the early days of the programme migrated to Oman.”

Connell said that it was unfortunate that Sam was not selected as the tennis coach for the Special Olympics in Los Angeles.

“But that’s life…, if people come out of the woodwork to use such occasions to fuel their own special needs and create a veneer that people can see through, that’s unfortunate, but I hope the veneer lasts after the Olympics,” Connell quipped.

He revealed that the GTC will soon be hosting a barbecue to raise $1,000 to assist in sending the team to the Special Olympics and is asking for the public’s support in the venture.

Also attending last Tuesday’s event were Trevor Bailey of the Olympic Committee and Minister of Sports Cecil Mc Kie.(RT)