Life they say, begins at 40, but for Coach Michael Okopi, life began a long time ago when he took it upon himself to start shaping the lives of tennis youngsters.
The Benue-born tennis tactician may go down as one of the most underrated tennis coaches in Nigeria with the calibre of players and coaches he has worked with in the past.
Not only is Okopi a PTR & ITF certified professional coach, he is also a graduate of PHE and Kinetics from the University of Lagos (UNILAG), a clear indication that he is deeply grounded in his stock.
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More than anything else, this coach desires to help youngsters achieve their dreams of playing at the highest level.
He tells Nigeria Tennis Live in this interview that what started with him taking on some youngsters became something huge, especially since he damaged his shoulder.
Okopi shares a bit about his tennis background with our correspondent in this exclusive chat. According to him: “I started at the age of 6 at the Apapa Club.
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“As a youngster, I won a couple of national junior tournaments such as UNIPETROL, Terri’s Burger, Okada Junior, Alhaji Adejumo, Milo, etc, and I knew that I was destined to make it in tennis”.
After growing through the ranks winning junior championships across Nigeria, Okopi continued with his tennis development and rightly moved to the senior cadre.
Even though it was too tough a ‘place’ to be, he continued to show flashes of his brilliance and still managed to reach semis and quarterfinals of major tennis events across the country.
“I reached the quarter finals and semi finals at the Dala Hard Court, Kaduna Clay, Asaba, Port-Harcourt and in Lagos Gulder,” he says.
Okopi was on a stellar run in the senior cadre of Nigerian tennis before he sustained a niggling shoulder injury which cut his ascendancy short and change the course of his trajectory.
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According to him: “I stopped playing in 2010 due to a recurring shoulder injury, and decided to focus solely on coaching ever since.
“I have been able to build players like Bright Emmanuel and Alisha Ndukwu from the scratch since I started my coaching career which has also seen me take up different roles.
“Daniel Adeleye, Seun Peter Ogunsakin, David Ekpeyong, Wilson Igbinovia, Christopher Bulus, among others, are some players I have worked with in past while serving in different capacities.
“Most of these guys are doing well today and are competing locally and internationally, and this is a thing of great joy for me”.
Not only has he worked with some of the best tennis players across the country, the soft-spoken coach has also worked with renown internationally coaches.
“Some of the coaches I have worked with include Coach Rotimi Akinloye, the technical director NTF; Coach Ubale Mohammed, NTF National Junior Coach; Coach Benson Ishicheli, National Coach & Davis Cup Captain; Coach Abel Ubiebi, Founder of Aces Tennis Academy, amongst others.
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“I was assistant National Junior Coach, assistant Davis Cup Captain. I have taken players for tournaments within and outside the country. I have won some awards to my name,” Okopi explains further.
All these activities, he reveals, are geared towards a really big dream, “to make a mark and impact in Nigerian tennis, to see Nigerian tennis players compete at the highest level, playing in the ATP & the WTA.
“I also want to see myself as a coach on the big stage like the Grand Slam tournaments, among other big tennis events”.
With his level of dedication and consistency, it may not be too long before we see Okopi sitting in the corners of some of the greatest Nigerian tennis players.