GTC making French connection

The Grassroot Tennis Club is looking down the road and is teaming up with the local Alliance Francaise to have its players get basic knowledge of the French language.{{more}}

This is a prelude to a trip to Martinique in August, by players from the GTC, to compete in a tournament there.

Revealing the intent, head of the GTC Grant Connell said, “We at the GTC are in close contact with a club in Martinique through their coach, who was present at a tournament in St Lucia recently.

“We expect to have an exchange visit between the two clubs, where our players would travel to Martinique and players from Martinique would come to St Vincent and the Grenadines …..This is great for tennis to expose them to the French style and the clay courts as well……Martinique is the gateway to France, so once we make it work, one can say with some degree of confidence that in 15 years, a youth from St Vincent and the Grenadines can be playing tennis in France and Europe in general,” Connell projected.

“Alliance Francaise will be helping in breaking down the language barriers for the team that will be chosen, barriers which I am sure will be overcome in a matter of time…. We have to equip our sportsmen with every possible means that will make them more marketable in this competitive world, as the sport is the vehicle to achieve your goal,” Connell added.

Listing two persons who have used tennis to jump start their livelihood, Connell noted: “John Frederick served off with a tennis scholarship and now is a medical practitioner in the United States ….Deron Grant, former coach at GTC, now wakes up in the Middle East doing something he loves and gets paid to do it, as head coach at a resort in Oman ….So, we are just doing our part connecting talent to opportunity,” Connell concluded.(RT)