In few days to come, the Hope Performance Tennis Foundation will be hitting the road to five different locations in five different Regions in Ghana to host its flagship program for the year 2021. Coming at the back of the successes that have been chalked in the 2018 and 2019 programs, the foundation is convinced the time is right to move to different Regions with its mission of empowering young people through the game of tennis especially in places that have less or no opportunity as far as the development of juvenile tennis is a concern.
At a time when young people are gradually returning to play, our work has never been more important to be by the side of young people in providing a great atmosphere of fun and learning, it is on that note that we are happy to announce that we are logistically ready and only waiting for days to come to host five great events in five different locations in four regions in Ghana.
The objectives of the 2021 tennis clinic as has been the case for our previous years are:
· To introduce first-timers to the game of tennis
· Teach tactical tennis on which technical skills are developed to intermediate and advance young players
· Provide an atmosphere of safety and fun for tennis lessons.
· Distribute tennis equipment to young players and clubs
Our team of coaches and volunteers will be making their first stop in Winneba from Friday the 17th to Saturday the 18th of September 2021 at the National Sports College which was once a tennis hub in developing young players, it is the centre that transformed the tennis game of our founding President Enock Godi. The team will be led by the veteran coach Noah who doubles as the Head coach of the Ghana Tennis federation. Coach Noah Bagerberseh is a household name in the development of tennis and has produced many national players, we are truly humbled that he will be leading the clinic in Winneba.
From Wenneba we will be making a stop at Cape Coast Stadium to host a wheelchair tennis clinic on the 21st September 2021. We are truly excited to bring wheelchair tennis lovers across the country to one of the historic cities in the country, Kotokuraba (“River of Crabs" or "Village of Crabs").
From the 23rd to the 24th of September 2021, we are privilege to be hosted at the Holy Trinity Spa an ultimate romantic destination for holidays, vacations and getaways, the number one tourism hotel in West Africa. Thanks to Dr. Cyril Bansah and Mrs Bansah we will be hosting young people at the Spa to a great event, it is refreshing to note that our partnership with the Spa will be introducing about 200 kids to the game of tennis for the first time and plans are far advanced with schools in the community to make this partnership a sustainable one where young people will be practising regularly at the Spa.
Thanks to great Okoro (Daniel Kwakye) the team will be making a stop at the Eusbet Hotel in Sunyani from the 1st to the 2nd September 2021 where young people will be hosted to great tennis clinic in an atmosphere of fun as will be organized in the other Regions.
Our final stop will be at the home of tennis in the North, the NEDCO tennis club, where we will be hosting young people from the 8th to the 9th of October 2021 to a high-performance tennis clinic and distribution of tennis equipment. We received young people from the North at our Accra base programs in 2019 and we are thrilled that we are taking the game to their doorsteps, thanks to Sampson Sayibu and the Chairman of the Club Mr. Danladi
It is the overall expectation of the foundation that through this engagement, young people shall develop a love for the game, learn lifelong positive values that are projected through sports, improve on their playing skills and above all see a better future ahead of them.
We are also excited to announce that we have endorsed the Children’s Bill of Rights in Sports by the Aspen Institute as part of our ambition to ensure that every child who benefits from our program is able to maximize the experience, we invite you to join us and a growing population of individuals and organization to affirm the Children’s Bill of Rights in Sports that, “all children have the right to play sports in a safe environment led by qualified program leaders through appropriate developmental play and to also share in the planning and delivery of sports activities, that children are to be exposed to an equal opportunity for personal growth and to be treated with dignity whilst enjoying sports”.
The foundation is committed to being the ally of young people in providing them with a sustainable platform of play to harness their potential and shaping it for a brighter future and in doing so, are committed to fully implementing the Children’s Bill of Rights in Sports at all of our programs.
Yours in Sports
Cedric Dzelu
Executive Director
(+233245888907)