TZ hosts coaching course

Ellina Mhlanga Sports Reporter
TENNIS Zimbabwe administrator Cliff Nhokwara says the ongoing International Tennis Federation Level Two coaching course will go a long way to improve the standard of sport. The course, which started last Monday, was facilitated by the ITF and the Olympic Solidarity through the Zimbabwe Olympic Committee. It will end on Friday. It attracted 23 coaches from Botswana, Lesotho, Madagascar, Mauritius, Namibia, South Africa, Swaziland and hosts Zimbabwe.

The course is being conducted by South Africa’s Andre de Beer and Riaan Krugger and Zimbabwe’s Freeman Nyamunokora. And, of the 23 participants, 12 are from Zimbabwe. Tennis Zimbabwe administrator, Cliff Nhokwara, said the course will empower the coaches to improve the quality of play in Africa.

“This is a regional Level Two coaching course and it’s quite a high level. We have local coaches from all over Zimbabwe. We have coaches from Mutare, Marondera, Bulawayo and Harare. “This is courtesy of the International Tennis Federation and the Olympic Solidarity.

“It’s not a local course so we had to accommodate a maximum of 10 coaches but there are two coaches from outside Zimbabwe who did not come — one from Mozambique and one from South Africa. “So we were lucky we had two more.

“The idea is to elevate the standard of coaching regionally hoping that it will cascade down to the players. It’s empowering the coaches to empower the players and, hopefully, the standard of players will also improve, not only in Zimbabwe but in Africa. “The course has been running since Monday last week and we will have a presentation on Friday where the participants will get their certificates,” Nhokwara said.

Meanwhile, Nhokwara said they have begun engaging potential sponsors for next year’s Davis Cup ties while waiting for the draw scheduled for November 3. Zimbabwe, who retained their spot in the Europe/Africa Group II for next year when they beat Moldova 5-0 at Harare Sports Club in July, will be hoping for a better performance next year to be promoted into the next Group.

“The draw is on November 3 but the matches will be in March and July, exactly the same as this year.