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Ellina Mhlanga
Senior Sports Reporter
AS part of their efforts to contribute to the development and growth of tennis in this country, Total Greatness International (TGI) are hosting seminars for local coaches working with young players.
The seminars are being led by Martin Rocca and Abel Rincon of TennisAid, an organisation based in Spain.
The first seminar was held on Monday at Old Hararians Sports Club with focus on the fundamentals of the sport, particularly establishing the right foundation for young players by equipping them with the correct skills.
Rocca and Rincon are expected to lead two more seminars in Bulawayo and Mutare, today and Friday respectively.
TGI founder, Takanyi Garanganga, said the idea for now is for the TennisAid coaches to share information with local coaches.
“We have got TennisAid, a non-profit (organisation) from Spain which was tasked by the Spanish Tennis Federation to come to Zimbabwe and help the initiatives of Total Greatness International.
“I know TGI has been running tournaments around the country. Last year we were using a system of data capturing to keep track on the kids. But we knew that the kids are being trained by coaches and we wanted to involve coaches in the whole process on the development of the game.
“So we looked for some links around the world who wanted to come and assist, and the Spanish (federation) came through.
“So the focus is just to give information right now. In the future we will create other types of partnerships to have a more specific type of blue print for them. But right now it’s just an introduction,” said Garanganga.
TGI is a non-profit organisation which seeks to develop tennis in Zimbabwe and one of their focus areas is capacity building for local coaches and teachers.
Monday’s seminar attracted over 30 participants from Harare, Mazowe, Masvingo and Kadoma.
Rocca said they are excited with their partnership with TGI to promote the development of tennis in this country.
“We are doing the seminars for them trying to work on developing ages and then establishing programmes to introduce kids into competitions, having a strong structure for tournaments, so players can develop.
“The idea is to have a strong relationship in the future to make sure that the structure continues building up a little bit.
“Basically in tennis, all around the world, the development ages are a bit problem in not having the proper coaches, not having proper structures or methodologists from federations or clubs.
“And coaches sometimes they don’t have the proper information to know how to work with little kids and that is the main problem because the fundamentals of the game you learn them when you are really young,” said Rocca.
Some of the participants from Monday’s seminar, shared their experiences and said such seminars will go a long way in bridging gaps in their development efforts.
Lucia Masunda from Chitungwiza said the seminar was an eye-opener.
“I have learnt that to produce a good player there has to be progression, you just can’t rush to play matches, tournaments. You have to make sure the kid has all the qualities, from the three-year-olds, four-year-olds, you have to take it slow to make sure that they grasp each concept,” said Masunda.
The seminar in Bulawayo is penciled for today and they will hold another one in Mutare on Friday.
The seminar held on Monday in Harare was graced by Tennis Zimbabwe president Biggie Magarira, Zimbabwe Olympic Committee chief executive Stephen Mudawarima and Harare Metropolitan Tennis Board chairperson Walter Jera.
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