INCUMBENT Guyana Tennis Association (GTA) president, Jamal Goodluck, admits that progress in the sport has been slow over the past year, but says he is satisfied that at least some headway has been made.
His words come as he prepares to seek re-election when the Association holds its Annual General Meeting (AGM) and election of office bearers next week Saturday, May 6, at the National Resource Centre, Woolford Avenue.
“I would say I’m pleased at the efforts we’re making, given the things that we have to work with,” Goodluck told the Guyana Chronicle in an exclusive interview earlier this week. Over the past year development has been sluggish because,as Goodluck says, from personnel to infrastructure, the sport remains gravely challenged.
“The GLTA had been poised for greater development and work when I came to office. I do think that the state is similar but we are gradually making strides towards the big vision. It’s been slow, slow but steady. We can move a little faster, I think, with the right resources as it relates to human, as well as infrastructure,” Goodluck said.
Goodluck has been at the helm of the Association since being elected to the position last year May, going down as the Association’s youngest president to date.
Some of the goals Goodluck had hoped to achieve after taking over the presidency last year included: seeing an improved performance from Guyana at last year’s Inter Guiana Games tennis tournament; completing a Memorandum of Understanding with the National Sports Commission over the use of the tennis courts at the National Racquet Centre; having at least one Guyana tennis facility brought up to International Tennis Federation (ITF) standard, and increasing involvement and opportunities for senior players in the sport.
To that end,Goodluck says progression was made somewhat on all these fronts, and a few other.
“In terms of developments we would have made some strides in building our association. We haven’t had a headquarters in forever and we’ve secured that. The ability for us to engage with government partners [has improved]. We would have made an attempt at the start of this year to put together a high performance training squad,” Goodluck related, as he spoke of some of the progress made.
Tennis is not one of the sports that Guyana has been particularly excelling in over the years;Guyanese players struggle at regional competitions, while our international presence is almost non-existent. Tennis in Guyana is almost exclusively relegated to the junior level, with most players leaving the sport once they age into the senior category.
Very little if any opportunity exists for the players to make a life out of playing tennis. However, over the years a few players have secured scholarships and stuck with the sport.
Guyanese Diwani Lewis was one such scholarship player, who went on to become a head tennis coach at Coppin University. He later came back to create a scholarship opportunity for top boys singles player Gavin Lewis, who is still on his scholarship at Coppin.
There is also Nicola Ramdyhan who was recently offered a scholarship by overseas-based Guyanese Bill Adams at his Bill Adams International Tennis Academy. Adams is an international tennis coach who has worked with the likes of world great Serena and Venus Williams. He is currently hoping to set up one of his academies in Guyana, confident that he could find and develop a lot of talent here.
“There are several coaches outside of Guyana who are enthusiastic to come and train in Guyana. But [if they come] where are they going to train? They don’t have any facility for them to work out of,” Goodluck pointed out.