Engr. Ifedayo Akindoju, the President of the Nigeria Tennis Federation (NTF) has revealed reasons the federation is prioritizing younger players for tennis education.
He made this revelation in his opening remark during the recently held workshop on Rules and Ethics of Tennis organized by the Nigeria Tennis Umpires Association (NTUA) in Abuja, Nigeria’s federal capital.
The event held over the weekend inside the National Tennis Centre, Package B of the Moshood Abiola National Stadium, Abuja, was facilitated by Sunday Samuel and Rose Abu, both White Badge Umpires.
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The NTF President while declaring the event open, reiterated the Federation’s commitment to developmental tennis, emphasizing that priority attention is being given to younger players in the country to ensure that they not only have the basic knowledge of the rules of tennis but also imbibe the character of integrity, honesty, respect and fair play.
Akindoju, in his remark, noted that as a Federation, “we are very intentional in ensuring value re-orientation on the side of our junior players to ensure they eschew all kinds of behaviour that will tarnish their career when they turn professionals in the coming years”.
He added that with this sort of enlightenment, “we are building a very strong foundation for young players not only to know and understand the rules of tennis but also to know what to do when someone approaches them to indulge in any kind of illegality like match-fixing, doping, amongst other ills that bring the integrity of the sport to disrepute.”
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Dissecting the Theme of the Workshop, the Facilitators anchored their paper presentations on the importance of adhering to the rules and ethics of tennis as well as on the workings of the International Tennis Integrity Agency in upholding probity in the game.
Mr. Efe Okwagbe, the NTUA Chairman who was excited about the event and the feedback, noted that the Workshop was borne out of the Association’s burning desire to transform Tennis Education amongst players, officials, coaches as well as tennis enthusiasts in the country.
According to him: “The ITF rules and regulations are updated on a regular basis, hence the need for these players to be updated in terms of their knowledge, skills and adaptability to the rules of the game.
“Ability alone is not enough. But if the players have enough knowledge and skills, they can use them in winning matches”.
The participants while applauding the NTUA for organizing the programme, used the question and answer session of the workshop to raise important issues as they relate to conduct of players, officials, coaches and parents.
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White Badge Referee from Ghana, Mr. Abubakari Yakubu-Lea; the NTF’s Technical Department Head, Mr. Rotimi Akinloye and the Facilitators were on hand to give clearer interpretations, perspectives and insightful inputs on their concerns.
The workshop which was the first under the present Management Committee of NTUA, provided the much-needed platform for tennis players, officials, coaches and other relevant stakeholders to brainstorm and share ideas on ways of developing the game of tennis in Nigeria.
The participation of Tennis Players, Coaches as well as Parents from different countries across the globe who were taking part in the ongoing International Tennis Federation’s World Tennis Tour J30 event added colour to the event.
While commending the NTUA for the laudable initiative, Akindoju pledged the NTF’s continued support to the Association and its programmes and urged the leadership of NTUA to work towards holding the symposium on a quarterly basis.