ANGUILLA
The Tennis Academy Camp which has been running for the past four weeks at the Webster Park courts, ended on Friday with a final match between Alexander Wallace and Marvin Hazel. The two thirteen-year-olds demonstrated their skills on the tennis court to an encouraging crowd of parents and supporters. The match ended with an exciting tiebreaker which was won by Alexander, who only started playing tennis at last year's tennis camp.
Sixteen of the best players had been selected for the knock-out tournament. Some excellent tennis was demonstrated by several of the players, including sixyear-old Devon Hodge who showed the crowd his potential on the tennis court. More than 100 hundred children have been attending the summer tennis camp, which is now in its second year.
The enthusiasm has been tremendous and organizer Mitchelle Lake commented that the large number of participants daily depicts a promising future for tennis in Anguilla. Each student was presented with a certificate of participation. After the final match, Minister of Sport Edison Baird thanked Black Entertainment Television (BET) and the local sponsors for their support. He expressed his pride in the efforts of the children and the range of sports now available to young people in Anguilla.
He said the discipline and commitment shown by the children is commendable and encouraged businesses to continue their support. Valentine Banks. President of the Anguilla Tennis Association, gave special thanks to Mitchelle Lake, Shawn Romney and Damien Hughes who had run the tennis camp so efficiently. "I am excited about what they are doing for tennis in Anguilla.
On behalf of the tennis community in the island I should like to thank the sponsors and Mitch, Shawn and Damien," he remarked. He stressed the Importance of sportsmanship, team work and discipline for the young children. Permanent Secretary Marcel Fahie emphasized the needs for lights on the two Tennis courts at Webster Park and the one in st End. He encouraged business persons present to contribute to the fund for the lighting as it is essential if the tennis academy is to continue.
Mitchelle commented that he is extremely pleased with the level of tennis that has been reached. He expressed his gratitude to Mr. and Mrs. Robert Johnson BET who "have embraced the Anguillan conununity and especially the children. I am extremely pleased with the cooperation from the local businesses," he commented He went on to say that he is aiming for the tennis academy to be an international event with participation from other islands and for tennis to become a major sport in Anguilla.
Mitchelle Lake has been assisted by Shawn Romney. They are two Anguillian students on tennis scholarships at Gardner Webb University in Boiling Spring North Carolina. They are devoting much of their vacation to promoting tennis in Anguilla-. Each orning they have held aching sessions for the children from 8:00am until 12 noon. In the evenings adults are benefiting from e coaching, too.
The Tournament Director, Damien Hughes, is also atending University on a tennis scholarship at Abraham Baldwin College in Tilton, Georgia. He told the Daily erald, "The tournament is a clear indication that e month of training was ell received by the kids. As e tournament director, it as a privilege for me to see that the planning of this tournament allowed it to culminate with an exceptional finals."
The tennis camp was sponred by BET (Black Enterainment Television) and local businesses in Anguilla including All so Island Cable TV, American Eagle, Anglec, Barclays Bank, Cap Juluca, Caribbean Commercial Bank, Covecastles, Gorgeous Scilly Cay, National Bank of Anguilla, Roy Rogers Photo Studio, cotiabank, Anguilla Printers and Triple K Car Rents. Many of the sponsors were represented at the tennis final and certificate preentation.
Read about Tennis Camp 1999: (LINK)