City Sports Club harp on grassroots development of tennis in FCT

By Victor Okoye

Tennis stakeholders at the City Sports Club in Abuja, have harped on the need for grassroots development of the sport, to help discover and nurture talents for the future of the game in the country.
A cross section of tennis stakeholders made the call on the sidelines of a One-day Interactive Tennis Tournament organised over the weekend to commemorate the 80th birthday of Pa Eugene Iwuh, held at the Temporary Club House, Police Officers Mess, Garki 2, Abuja.
The Vice President of the City Sports Club, Abuja, Mr. Sylvester Uzoama, while wishing Pa Iwuh a happy 80th birthday, said the club would not relent in its quest to foster the growth of the game from the scratch, while also emphasing on the benefits of playing tennis at leisure.
“Tennis is a game for longevity. It’s a mixture of sweat, wellness, and brain power.
“Those are kind of mixture that would allow you to survive the tumultuous nature of life.
“We can borrow a leaf from Pa Iwuh, who is still playing at the age of 80.
“So, as a club, we dedicate part of our time to the grassroots, where the children come to learn, while our coaches guide them through the rudiments of the game.
“This is something we do as a growing concern,” he said.
Captain of the club, Chukwunonso Nwabueze, said the One-day interactive session was also meant to create awareness on the need for corporate entities and well-meaning individuals to invest in tennis
“Most importantly, it’s for us to drive home the need for the country to also invest more in the game of Tennis.
“Tennis is one of the sports that used to make Nigeria proud in the 70s and 80s.
“We had the likes of Nduka Odizor, Kylian Nwokedi, David Imonite, Sule Ladipo, Sadiq Abdullahi, Tony Mmoh, to mention a few. These were the guys that inspired the glory days of Nigeria tennis.
“Unfortunately, since the days of these Nigerian tennis greats, the country has hardly produced any player making it to the ATP rankings.
“But, we are not losing hope as this kind of interaction will bring awareness about what we do as a club in terms of grassroots development of Tennis in the FCT and will hopefully encourage other well-meaning Nigerians to also invest in the sports,” he said.
The celebrant High Chief Eugene Iwuh, who commended the Nigeria Tennis Federation for a job well done so far, charged the federation to go back to the grassroots.