admin
Ellina Mhlanga Sports Reporter
AMID efforts to establish a Tennis Centre in Mufakose, head of the coaching department, Martin Dzuwa, is already leading a team of several coaches to conduct some coaching sessions in the suburb. The first session, under the Centre, was held last week at Rutendo Hall .And, the coaches return to the same venue today, for another session, with aspiring young players between the ages of four and 10 years.
The Centre is the brainchild of former tennis players who came through the Mufakose Tennis Coaching Agency led by Albert Nhamoyebonde. The coaching programme is also expected to create awareness of the efforts being made to bring back the good old days when the high density suburb churned out some of the top players in tennis.
Dzuwa is one of the former top players to have come from Mufakose. He said while they are waiting to finalise the way forward with the Council, regarding getting a place where they can set up proper courts, they were taking the initiative to get the programme rolling with the available resources.
“We are having something tomorrow (today) at Rutendo Hall in Mufakose. I did the same last week, so we are going to do the same tomorrow.
“There is a concrete surface at Rutendo Hall, so, we just put nets, then coach the kids.
“All coaches from Mufakose will be there.
“There is coach Murape, Francis Chikaka, Moses Chikodzi, Kennedy Munyanyi and Arthur Mawire, just to mention but a few.
“So, we are having this tomorrow from 3pm, just for an hour, to promote the game because we haven’t had the space at the moment.
“But, we just thought we can start introducing the game to the kids.
“If we wait, it takes time, we just have to find a place where there is a good surface, then we put nets, just to introduce the game and also alert people of what we want to do.
“We are looking at kids from four years to 10 years,” said Dzuwa.
Dzuwa noted the response from the community has been encouraging and is hopeful they will have more children at today’s session.
“The community is really liking the idea. The support I got last week was tremendous, and it was good,’’ he said.
“I had like 40 kids, so, I am looking at getting more kids and now we have more coaches coming.
“Last week, I had two guys who were helping just to coordinate the kids.
“From the results I got last week, people like the idea. By the time we get the courts we will be somewhere,” said Dzuwa.
Dzuwa said they wanted to promote both boys and girls into the sport.
“We are also looking at the girl child, that’s where we are lacking, wheelchair tennis, so that we do not leave anyone out,” added Dzuwa.
Online Reporter