De Roche clips Coca Cola ITF U-12 title in St Lucia

It was another moment of celebration for the Grassroot Tennis Club, when Akeil De Roche triumphed in the Boys Under-12, beating St Lucian Maxx Williams in the Coca Cola ITF tournament in St Lucia recently.{{more}}

In the process, De Roche showed his discipline and did not drop a set to any of his opponents in getting to the final.

Commenting on the club’s achievements, Grant Connell said :“It’s a great boost to the club and the young players…Antonio (Caine) did well to get to the semi-finals and Rio (Connell) to win the Boys 10 Consolation, is showing [that] the Grassroot family is the corner stone of tennis in St Vincent and the Grenadines.

“We at Grassroot Tennis Club would like to thank C.K. Greaves, Scotia Bank, Deputy COP Franklyn Joseph and the GTC fund-raising team for their assistance in making it possible for us to participate in the tournament,” Connell added.

“We are rebuilding the respect we once had in the OECS… We have gone through a drought after the brief stint of Fabrice George, roughly 10 years ago; In the last 10 years, the Vincy players merely enter a tournament as a statistic – the word Vin and Bye on the draw sheets are one and the same, since the opponent always seems to advance”. Connell quipped in his usual style.

But Connell said that the current baby steps that are being made must turn into leaps.

“We have to keep up the participation in regional tournaments…Liat is not making that quest to easy, so next Easter we have teamed up with Sunsail and we will be able to carry 10 players…, It will take longer, but there will be time to get back the legs to be tournament fit, maybe Sunsail can connect St Lucia and St Vincent when it comes to sport, or in general for that matter…. We are so close, but yet so far apart,” Connell noted.(RT)