Tennis development in Nigeria has to happen, primarily, at the places where we have people together closely-knit as a community, and that’s the story of the Diamond Tennis League.
Lekan Bisiriyu, a member of the club, and one of those who initiated the League, narrates extensively, how the league was conceptualized and how they kick started it.
I was just trying to settle in the world of Data, fresh out of my Data Analysis Program back then in 2022, I was given data to work with but I found it really hard to callout some things with the data given to me.
Background gist… Prior to 2022, I had no experience with data, so it was hard to play around until I fully registered myself into this new program.
Meanwhile, I was active in my tennis playing, I focused for while, drifted a bit, then came back again. I started volunteering to keep data of matches played, I started posting the scores on WhatsApp, since we didn’t have an Instagram account, so I processed the data and sent it to the platform.
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A lot of people were happy with the updates because it kept them informed about the activities within the club, especially our members in diaspora who have been active members of the club before they moved abroad.
The challenge was that, not everyone liked the idea of putting out the data on the group frequently but with the support from people who liked it, I continued.
I actually found a closure to some aspects of my data analysis program, I tried to visualize the dreams, I bounced it on the rhythm non stop. I gave it everything and help came. We were able to raise funds to repair the court and got many advice and support from those who started tennis at the Estate.
As the surface became better, I was able to document some vital moments and the fine courts gave the details a good visualization, especially with the help of one our volunteers – Mr. Daniel Adeyemo from ELIZADE University, Ondo State. He handled the graphics and editing for Diamond Lawn Tennis Club.
Members of the club liked the new buzz from the highlights thanks to Mr. Danny K’s designs. The support was great and the project started getting thought about.
The idea surged around December 2023 during the ATP Finals for top 10 tennis players in ranking. I infused the vision into our club with the help of data collection in the first month of the next year.
We discussed it in house and it started in January, 2024. We played about 54 matches in the first month, with a lot of people showing their excitement and interest. Players participated in both Doubles and Singles.
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As part of incentives to encourage players to keep participating, we awarded people with the Singles, Doubles player of the month, as well as the ‘Mover’ of the month.
In February, the participation reduced, a total numbers of 8 players participated and we played only 20 matches but we couldn’t document the event properly using graphics because our designer was writing his exams. I used the notepad, instead.
With the tools and resources at our disposal, I renamed the league as Dera Diamond Tennis League and we arranged it in such a way that you’ll enjoy certain values as a member of the Tennis Club.
We did this so that we can start generating income for the clubs and the participating players through a sponsorship from big brands and well to do people who like to support great vision.
After two months, the tennis league died a natural death due to low participations. However, we are trying to bounce back by introducing the tennis league to other clubs across the State, that way, it will serve as a confluence between tennis clubs in a healthy way.
The tennis league is unique in the sense that both the young and young at heart can participate, and we are hopeful that many other clubs can emulate what the Diamond Tennis Club initiated early this year.