Nanton sends out SOS for Tennis

Former President of the St. Vincent and the Grenadines Tennis Association Michael Nanton has sent an SOS for tennis lovers to get the sport out of its administrative slump.{{more}}

In an interview with SEARCHLIGHT last Saturday, Nanton issued the call, saying: “I am calling on all parties who can see the value of the sport of Tennis and who are interested in seeing it go further to step forward at this point, because we need it. This is an SOS for Tennis”.

Nanton’s comments came against the backdrop of the association, headed by President Anthony Mc Kenzie, which has on two occasions within the last two months failed to convene its Annual General Meeting because of a lack of a quorum.

Nanton first made his concerns public at the Closing and Presentation Ceremony of the Grassroot Tennis Club Easter Junior Tennis Tournament on Saturday, April 2, at the Haddon Courts, at Murray’s Road, calling the situation “ridiculous”.

Pointing to the possible root cause, Nanton last Saturday claimed: “There has been a lot of animosity built up among personalities within the current administrative framework of the association”.

“This sport and the governance of this sport has nothing to do with personalities. It has to do with the governance of the sport and the further sustenance of the programmes so that the Tennis Association remains a viable organisation in St. Vincent and the Grenadines for the people of St. Vincent and the Grenadines, primarily the young people,” stated Nanton.

Accepting that in every organization there will be ebbs and flows, Nanton, however, in charting the way forward for Tennis in St. Vincent and the Grenadines, contended: “Something has to be wrong, and you have to look internally for what is fundamentally wrong”.

Nanton also thinks that there needs to be greater respect attached to persons who have served tirelessly to see the St. Vincent and the Grenadines Tennis Association, to the point that it was considered the model association in the region by the ITF regional Development Officer.

“You cannot stand above the shoulders of those who came before and kick them in the head,” Nanton added.

“ We have faults, we have all done wrong, so it makes no sense pointing fingers at that one and that one, when they are the ones who have the biggest contributions to make in the future,” he continued.

Willing to help resolve the association’s woes, Nanton said: “I invite all concerned to tap into my knowledge and my experience freely if any one here wants to make use of that I am ready and willing to serve.

“ I do not want to be part of the problem, but part of the solution out of the crisis in administration, where petty jealousies and differences are put aside for the sake of the children who play the sport,” Nanton, who has coached professionally, advanced.

“Therefore, I am proposing that we have a two-day symposium or workshop, just like any other good business, to see where we are at, so that we can examine what our strengths are, what are our weaknesses are, what opportunities lie, and what threatens us – a SWOT analysis,” advised Nanton, who has served the national body in various capacities from its inception in 1972 until 2002, when he, as President, demitted office.

“Let us redefine our mission, let’s do this thing like a proper organisation which would take us from where we are floundering as headless chickens, and move to a situation where we are focussed and we can deliver to the deserved people who play tennis on this island and those who have never picked up a racquet,” Nanton concluded.