The Tribune

By TENAJH SWEETING

Tribune Sports Reporter

tsweeting@tribunemedia.net

THE Bahamas Lawn Tennis Association (BLTA) began its first ever hosting of the International Tennis Federation (ITF)- COTECC regional training camp for English-speaking countries yesterday at the National Tennis Centre (NTC).

The training sessions will continue until Friday for twelve top under-14 tennis players hailing from the host country, Trinidad and Tobago, St Lucia, Curaçao, and Barbados.

The four-day camp is being spearheaded by John Goede, ITF development officer for the Caribbean, to ensure the development of players in the Caribbean region.

The ITF representative was elated to have the training camp hosted in The Bahamas for the first time and expects the next few days to be productive for the junior players. “I think it is an amazing opportunity for these players to develop their skills.

Through the COVID-19 period, we were not able to do much of this and now that the BLTA is hosting it for the first time, here it is a great opportunity for the players and for me to see the available talent from the other non-Spanish speaking countries and host country itself,” Goede said.

The participants, including seven Bahamians, will have the opportunity to engage in matches with the top visiting players, improve their speed, fitness and agility, and become more knowledgeable about the overall game of tennis.

“The only way to get better is to play with people who are strong or just as strong as you are. What is happening here is supervised play so they can learn how to play, we coach them to get better, then they play again. “This teaches them the skills to be on tour and the kids from The Bahamas learn how to play against new faces with new styles and it is a win-win situation for everybody involved,” he said.

Perry Newton, president of the BLTA, was particularly optimistic about hosting the first regional training camp in The Bahamas for English-speaking countries.

“We are excited to have them here and have Mr Goede in. We have seen a lot of growth throughout the region when it comes to tennis, especially at the junior level.

“It is a very exciting venture to be able to host the kids from different countries and have Bahamians participate in a camp of this level. I am hoping that this would invigorate them to continue to go in there to practice and compete hard,” Newton said.

Among the top junior Bahamian players at the camp are Patrick MacTaggart, Synaj Watkins, Chase Newbold, Briana Houlgrave, Caitlyn Pratt, Danielle Saunders and Ayai Bethel. The trio of Pratt, Saunders and Bethel are representing Grand Bahama and Eleuthera.

The latter is one of Eleuthera’s top performers in his age group and the BLTA president is hoping that he and the other Family Islanders can benefit the most from this experience at the NTC.

“This is really critical for them we have one boy and two girls who have traveled and when we look at the islands, especially Bethel from Eleuthera, which has less courts and competition we hope him being here propels him to the next level because locally he is in top three,

“For him it is going to be a really big thing because it gives him competition and allows him to see a lot of different people,” he said.

In addition to matches played on the various tennis courts, the junior players will be taught more about tennis in a classroom setting.

Following the conclusion of the ITF-COTECC regional training camp on Friday, the U14 Junkanoo Bowl tournament will begin on Saturday. The tournament will be ranked on the COTECC Junior Circuit and participants of the regional training camp get to display their new knowledge and skills according to Newton.

“I think the players in this camp should have an advantage because they have been training and preparing. They will have some strategy in preparation for the tournament and it is going to be really exciting because everybody is going to be fighting to be the top player, “ he said.

The U14 Junkanoo Bowl Competition is slated for November 11-16 at the NTC.

As previously mentioned, the regional camp wraps up on Friday.