By Vanessa Cort

The story of the Grove/Diamond Rebel Tennis Club is the result of the vision of one man and his efforts to foster young people interested in the sport.
Andre Erskine, who grew up in Albouystown, Georgetown where he was born, made his first foray into what is traditionally called lawn tennis – now played on clay and hard courts as well as grass – when he began playing at the Non-Pareil Club.

His interest was sparked after watching black American tennis stars, Serena and Venus Williams, take the tennis world by storm, rising to the top of the sport and winning trophy after trophy.
Now, an accomplished coach, he can watch with pride and satisfaction as his club players achieve wins at home and abroad. It has not been easy. Erskine spoke of how the Club struggled, from its beginnings in 2017, practising on courts made available by the Guyana Bank of Trade and Industry (GBTI) on the bank’s compound in Diamond on the East Bank of Demerara.

With a lot of new and inexperienced players, the Club got a ‘beating’ until just before the COVID-19 pandemic, when they were able to run their first tournament, sponsored by Smalta.
They can now boast a membership comprising most of the country’s top players, who have had a string of successes at local and overseas tournaments.
One member, Nathan DeNobrega, was ranked in the top 15 players in Central America and the Caribbean, by the Central American Tennis Confederation (COTECC).

This young man, just 14 years old, has ‘dethroned’ national players in his category and his impressive wins include singles and doubles trophies at a meet in Trinidad last July. Then the Club returned with a total of 13 in various categories and a humorous reprimand from their Trinidadian counterparts that they should not return because they were ‘carting off’ all the trophies.

On December last year Erskine’s own niece, Kimora Erskine, won the girls under-14 tournament and two under-10 players, Isabella Grannum and Michael Fordyce, both won the top spot during their first tournament appearance.

That the Club has achieved all of this success is a testimony to Coach Erskine’s skill and determination, following the devastating personal loss of his mother and sister in the space of two years.
Mental and physical exhaustion, brought on by their care and club responsibilities, caused his body to develop an internal abscess as his organs began to fail. On ‘death’s door’ he decided, upon medical advice, to go for a change of atmosphere and accompanied two players to a tournament in Trinidad. “I felt a change in myself when I got back,” he said, as his health improved.

His renewed vigor and commitment to the club was partly fuelled by some seniors, who visited him the Christmas following his mother’s death in 2020 and helped him ‘get back on his feet’.
Parents too have ‘gone into their pockets’ and contributed to the club, making it possible for members to travel abroad to participate in tournaments.
They have been assisted by Smalta, which has committed to sponsor the junior tournament each year, the Guyana Public Service Credit Union and GBTI.

Remembering his early days in the sport, Erskine also gives credit to coach William Skeete, who he said helped him and others to learn the game and grasp the art of coaching.
And this is what Erskine also did at no charge in the National Park before moving to the defunct club in Grove/Diamond, on the suggestion of then President of the Guyana Tennis Association, Grace McAlmont.
With over 50 members playing in the under 8, 12, 14 and 18 categories, the Rebel Tennis Club is now gearing up for a tournament in December, to which clubs across the country are expected to send players.
“I think they (the players) are the reason I keep going…I feel so proud.”

He has every reason to be filled with pride at the accomplishments of his players, after just seven years, interrupted by the pandemic of 2020, which brought club activities to a halt.
He recalled that during the two years when Covid ‘rocked’ the world, “…only the die-hard players would sanitise, mask-up and turn up to practice.”
Now he can boast of a club which is ‘on the move’, both literally and figuratively, but which could do much more with additional sponsorship from the business community.

During our interview, he received a phone call from DHL shipping informing him that he could collect a sponsorship cheque. I sincerely hope that other businesses will follow suit and help to build this Club, whose players are showcasing their skill and ability in what is largely a non-traditional sport.

Nathan DeNobrega is at the forefront, having won his first United States Tennis Association (USTA) tournament trophy in his category last month when he and five other members took part in a meet in Miami, Florida.
Another player, Gerald Scotland, has distinguished himself as the country’s leading under-18 tennis star, winning the doubles trophy, along with Denzel Luthers in Trinidad this year.

He is the reigning Rebel Men’s champion and defending champion of the Smalta Rebel Tournament, which he has won twice.

These young people are helping to raise funds by offering graphic designs produced by a small machine they recently purchased. And clearly, they can continue to ‘climb the ladder of success’ if they receive the help they so badly need. Then they will surely place Guyana firmly in the international tennis arena.