GTC prepped for restart of annual tournaments

After the successful rekindling of its summer camp this year, the Grassroot Tennis Club (GTC) projects that in 2016, there will be the return of its three junior tournaments.

Set for return are the Easter, Summer and Christmas tournaments.

These tournaments were shelved after the GTC had to give way to the national association which had fixed dates for theirs, which resulted in clashes.{{more}}

But director of the GTC Grant Connell commented, “however, in light of the lapse and lack of tournaments, the club has a duty to the tennis fraternity to provide competitions for the juniors.”

Meanwhile, the GTC’s annual summer camp was back up and running after being absent last year.

The GTC had left it in the hands of the national association to run at the home of tennis at Villa, but according to Connell, “they failed to continue the event.”

This year, the club rekindled the summer camp with 65 children over a two-week period.

A battery of coaches, led by head coach Trevor Sam and Agostini Soleyn of GTC, was ably assisted by Corporal Kenroy Campbell, Corporal Dwayne McKenzie and Corporal Kerwin Ince of the St Vincent and the Grenadines Police Force. Connell noted that this year they were able to incorporate some of the children from the Police Youth Groups from around the island, who were themselves having a camp of their own at Belair.

In so doing, children from Sandy Bay, Colonarie, Barrouallie, Chateaubelair, Petit Bordel, Layou, Greiggs, Questelles and New Montrose got a chance to play the game.

Connell said, “It’s a good start to what I hope could be mini summer camps in various areas of the country and by next year, that can be conducted by the police themselves, who recently graduated from the Police Tennis Training Camp at the Grassroot Tennis Club.”

Connell said next year the summer camp will be back to its full capacity, with, hopefully, a sponsor on board. The camp will run from July 11, 2016 and will not be limited to tennis.(RT)