SVG Road Tennis Association planning the sport’s revitalization

The Conrad Simon led executive of the St Vincent and the Grenadines Road Tennis Association has a plan of action to revive Road Tennis here.

The plans include outreach programmes in schools and communities, culminating in more tournaments being held across St Vincent and the Grenadines (SVG).

The association declared their intentions at a press conference on January 4, at the conference room of the National Sports Council, at Arnos Vale.

Part of the process is to have those players who are engaged in other sporting disciplines such as Table Tennis and Lawn Tennis, get a feel of Road Tennis, to complement their respective disciplines.

Maudlyn Blunt (right) giving some tips to Shadel Cyrus at the Arnos Vale Netball Complex during one of the coaching sessions

President, Simon said “We encourage it (because) at an early age it is good to have the kids involved in more than one sport, because they develop different movements, different control of the body before they specialize”.

Public relations officer of the Road Tennis Association, Sean Stanley, elaborating said: “There are some factions within the (SVG) Tennis Association who are also involved in Road Tennis and the transformation is an easy one…We are happy to have the numbers”.

Stanley added that Road Tennis is like Table Tennis on the streets, involving five serves. “…when you are playing, doubles serve on the right -hand side… The same way you score and the same way you serve”.

He added that they propose to host day and/or night tournaments which will be open to anyone who wants to play which will allow for their classification according to their prowess.

In 2016 and 2017, with the help of the Professional Road Tennis Association of Barbados, Nine Mornings tournaments were held in which cash awards were presented to winners in the various categories.

These were staged in collaboration with the SVG Ministry of Sports as there was then no Road Tennis Association here.

As part of growing the sport, the local association has used the services of Vincentian/Barbadian Maudlyn Blunt, who is a top ranked female player in Barbados, to have some outreach programmes.

Barbados currently has a fully functioning Professional Road Tennis Association.

While here, Blunt along with her two children, did some coaching and were engaged in exhibition matches.

Road Tennis is deemed indigenous to Barbados, with reports stating that its origins date back to the 1930s.

However, in recent times the sport has been spreading internationally.

While considered the poor man’s sports because of its low cost to those who wish to play, there are many tournaments which are held with relatively hefty cash prizes.