Ten regions involved in junior tennis
By Upananda Jayasundera - Kandy Sports Special Corr.
TENNIS: S. Yogaratnam, the General Manager of Sri Lanka Tennis
Association visited the Kandy Garden Club recently and expressed his
views of the program with regard to the tennis competitions throughout
the island, especially in Kandy.
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S. Yogaratnam - the General Manager of Sri Lanka Tennis
Association with veteran tennis coach M. Razik of Kandy.
Picture by Upananda Jayasundera - Kandy Sports Special Corr.
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The LTA has been conducting junior tennis initiative program in 9
regions which is presently sponsored by Touchwood Investments.
There are two kinds of programs: (a) Mini tennis and (b) regular
tennis .
The following regions are involved in the Junior Tennis Initiative
Program (Mini Tennis and Regular Tennis: 1. Colombo, 2. Matale, 3.
Ratnapura, 4. Kandy, 5. Kurunegala, 6. Kalutara, 7. Batticaloa, 8.
Jafffna, 9. Negombo, 10. Bandarawela.
Mini-tennis is a scaled down version of tennis which uses smaller
bats, a smaller court, softer tennis balls and a game based approach to
introduce young children to tennis.
Mini tennis has been conducted in the schools and the talented
players are promoted to regular tennis. SLTA is offering equipment and
new courts to outstation to develop tennis. Regional co-ordinators have
been appointed by the SLTA to monitor this program which was initiated
by International Tennis Federation.
The SLTA has identified many talented players through the JTI program
over the last 10 years.
Number of schools in the mini tennis program 66, number of players in
the mini tennis program approx 15,000, number of tennis players approx
1,500 juniors.
Kandy program
The junior tennis initiative program is being conducted in Kandy for
lat 7 years among the schools. Many schools have their own tennis courts
and conduct their own program.
Presently 5 schools are involved in the JTI program (Trinity College,
Mowbray College, Hillwood Girls School, Colombo International School and
Mahamaya Girls School), SLTA organise mini tennis tournament every year
in Kandy among these schools.
Kandy region has taken part in the All Island Inter-School tournament
and the regional tournament which was conducted by the SLTA. Kandy has
good infrastructure to accommodate many players, however, due to lack of
coaches the quality and the quantity of tennis players are below the
expectation.
Special programs to develop coaches are being conducted in Kandy.
SLTA intends to conduct tennis training in Kandy in the future with
the support of local clubs.
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