SVGTA hosts Play Tennis Course

Sixteen Physical Education Teachers and Community College Physical Education students received certification for having completed the International Tennis Federation (ITF) Play Tennis Course, which took place at the National Tennis Centre at Villa.

 The training course was organized by the SVG Tennis Association (SVGTA) in an effort to further increase the capacity of the physical education teachers and aspiring coaches to teach the sport of tennis to students, and new players. 

The course was conducted by John Goede, regional ITF development officer, with assistance of Kyle Hannays of Trinidad and Tobago and Vincentian Level 2 coach Anthony Boyea.

In outlining the purpose of such a course, Goede commented : “Play Tennis Course is the first step to coaches’ education for the ITF … How to play tennis and stay with it… We have been losing too many people to other sports and other activities”.  

Goede said that there were some fundamental flaws in the teaching of tennis to beginners, which resulted in them not continuing.

“One of the reasons they did not stay in the game was the way tennis was taught to the people initially, which was kind of old-fashioned … Now the game is promoted with transition rackets, smaller courts and special transition balls, red, blue, and orange, then to the green,” Goede explained.

Goede noted that the balls used for beginners have less compression, hence allow the beginners to have success and enjoy the sport early in their development.

“It (Play Tennis) is definitely a formula to take tennis back to the needy ones, to promote tennis and to have more adult tennis going,” the regional ITF development officer concluded.