Digicel serves up $20, 000 for tennis

Over the past few years, Digicel has made tremendous strides in developing the telecommunications industry and contributing to the economy of St. Vincent and the Grenadines. But last Tuesday morning, their main focus was on the children.

Digicel donated $20,000 to the St. Vincent and the Grenadines Tennis Association towards their summer program. The program, which is called the “Digicel’s Primary School Development Tennis Program” started on July 17, 2006, and will run for three years.{{more}} It will be held in eight venues including The Petit Bordel Tennis Court, Emerald Valley Casino, Gomea, Marriaqua, Lauders, North Union, Owia and the Bequia Tennis Court.

Peter Nanton of the Junior Development Committee said that the summer program is to expose children at a tender age to the game of tennis. He further added that part of the program’s purpose is to introduce the game to the young in the rural areas of St. Vincent and the Grenadines.

“We are looking for the talent in the kids at this stage, we do not just want to play tennis, we want to help them by getting scholarships. So they go further in the game,” said Nanton. He mentioned that the Tennis Association is looking forward to great things from the program, and in the third year they expect to expand the summer program throughout the length and breadth of St. Vincent and the Grenadines. In September, they will be also identifying eight more schools and several different sites so coaches can go to different schools and conduct tennis sessions.

Marketing Executive of Digicel, Juno DeRoche, said that Digicel is always committed to the development of youths. “We are delighted to be the only mobile provider in St. Vincent and the Grenadines to go beyond our call of duty. We believe the youth of any country are the future of that country, therefore whenever there is the opportunity to aid in developing young minds in a positive way, Digicel will be happy to get involved,” said DeRoche.

So far, 36 primary schools have registered for the program with some 548 students, ages five to eight.