Geophrey Sifani Sports Reporter
MORE than 50 players and coaches attended a tennis coaching clinic conducted by Zimbabwe’s number one Takanyi Garanganga at Girls College in Bulawayo yesterday. The coaching clinic was organised by Serve4Africa Foundation, a non-profit organisation that was created for the purposes of promoting social development through the game of tennis on the continent.
The course covered techniques, backhand and forehand, point construction and positions on the tennis court.
Garanganga, who is based in the United States, was impressed by the turn-up and talent on display and wished he could come home more often to conduct more training courses so that up-and-coming players do not lose interest.
“The turn-up is awesome although the only challenge comes in that I come once to assess the development side for encouragement. To keep in constant shape, there should be frequent tournaments for the players. It doesn’t have to be big ones, but just enough for exposure and experience. Coaches must organise small events for these players,” said Garanganga.
Serve4Africa representative Thabani Sithole concurred with Garanganga and said they will work with local tennis coaches to identify talented players and help nurture them.
“We want the kids that have turned up today to one day play at national and international levels. One girl identified through such coaching clinics will be going to the Netherlands in three weeks time and we believe there are more young players like her, hence the holding of more such courses,” said Sithole.
“We don’t have a team of our own but work mainly with clubs to help them train their players instead of waiting for tournaments that are few and far between. Ours is just to help give direction to the kids and we’re impressed with the results so far,” he said.