The Nigeria Tennis Umpires Association(NTUA) in collaboration with the Nigeria Tennis Federation(NTF) over the weekend at the National Tennis Centre, Package B of the Moshood Abiola National Stadium Abuja held a One-Day Interactive Workshop with Tennis Players, Officials, Coaches, Parents as well as other lovers and followers of the game.
Dissecting the Theme of the Workshop; Tennis Ethics: Education For Players And Officiating Persons For Next Generation Initiative- Knowing The Rules Of Tennis, the Facilitators Sunday Samuel and Rose Abu both White Badge Chair Umpires, 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.
President of the NTF, Engr. Dayo Akindoju while declaring the event open reiterated NTF’s commitment to developmental tennis, emphasising 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.
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”, Akindoju stated.
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”, the NTF President emphasised.
He commended the Nigeria Tennis Umpires Association for the laudable initiative and pledged NTF’s continued support to the Association and its programmes. He also urged the leadership of NTUA to work towards holding the symposium on a quarterly basis.
Highly elated Chairman of NTUA, Mr. Efe Okwagbe, in his remarks, 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.
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, he stated.
“Ability alone is not enough. But if the players have enough knowledge and skills, they can use them in winning matches, Mr. Okwagbe noted.
The participants while appaulding the Association 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 of which White Badge Referee from Ghana,
Mr. Abubakari Yakubu-Lea, Mr. Rotimi Akinloye, Nigeria’s National Senior Tennis Team Coach, 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 which was adjudged as very successful.
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