THE Guyana Lawn Tennis Association (GLTA) is set to embark on a multimillion dollar project to bring the tennis facility at the National Racquet Centre (NRC) up to International Tennis Federation (ITF) standards, ahead of hosting the Inter-Guiana Games tennis tournament set for October.
Estimated to cost some US$200 000 (G$42 000 000), the upgrade will involve the tearing down of some of the current bleachers at the facility and the construction of three additional courts, to add to the two currently there. It will also see the installation of lights at the facility. However, this aspect will be catered to by the National Sports Commission (NSC) as part of their ‘Light It Up’ campaign.
To host ITF matches at a facility, the Federation requires that a facility must have at least five courts, and Guyana currently has no such facility. The GLTA hopes that with this upgrade of the NRC they can start bringing ITF tournaments here and develop the sport, beginning with the IGG tournament.
GLTA president Jamal Goodluck, is optimistic that the facility’s renovations can be completed in time for the October tournament. According to him, consultants estimate that the works will take somewhere between 3 and 4 months to be completed; the real limitation will be garnering the necessary funds for the staggering price tag of the venture.
Towards that end the GLTA has already reached out to the ITF, applying for a grant that will see the project receive a maximum of US$50 000. However before that can be done the GLTA is required to submit to the ITF a Memorandum of Understanding, signed between the GLTA and the NSC.
The NSC has authority over the government-built NRC, which also houses a squash court facility and the National Resource Centre.
The GLTA submitted the MoU in January, to be checked by the legal team of the Department of Culture, Youth and Sport, before signing. The GLTA has since received back the document and was asked to make some changes, which Goodluck says the GLTA resubmitted after making the changes, and now await word from the NSC.
As it pertains to the GLTA’s acquiring the rest of the money, Goodluck disclosed that following the entities Annual General Meeting (AGM), next week, a committee will be put together to look into that.
“We will reach out to our business partners as well as the Diaspora. Right now we’re nowhere near our target, but at the AGM we’re looking to form a group of business minds who can help in that process,” Goodluck relayed.