TWO players from the Sheltez Tennis Club departed Guyana and are in Trinidad to participate in the 2024 RBC Junior Tournament.
The tournament runs from December 7-12 and will have four categories for boys and girls.
On Monday, Guyanese Erin Tucker beat Trinidadian Charis Salina 6-2, 6-3 in her first game, while the other player from the Sheltez Tennis Club; Ricky Romascindo, lost his match yesterday.
Coach of the club, 52-year-old Shelly Daley informed Chronicle Sport that the multitalented Zion Hickerson will be participating in the ‘Little Mo’ International Junior Tournament in Florida.
Coach Daley thanked GuyOil, Sheltez Tennis Club along with their parents and other sponsors for making their participation in the Trinidad tournaments possible.

“This is the last tournament that they will be travelling for this year; while Zion is a bit younger and he could attend another one. I spoke to his dad about his performance in Florida and we will work with him when [he] returns home.
“Any tournament, especially international ones, is very beneficial for the players because it allows them to be able to have more exposure to higher-level opponents and different styles of play.
“Because there is a limited number of players back home, they become familiar with the way they play; facing players they have never seen gives them valuable experience,” explained Coach Daley, the national champion for four successive years during the 1990s
Daley said this year was challenging again since the club doesn’t have enough practice time on better facilities.
“We rely heavily on the National Park…we only have one day at the Racquet Centre, while the school schedule is affected since kids only get two days of week training unless other arrangements are put in place…so that is still a challenge for us.
“The National Gymnasium only has one court and by the time the kids get off from school, it gets dark very quickly.
“The lighting facility is not the best, so we are not able to facilitate night tennis as we would like to…so that is still a big challenge for us.
“We were told that ExxonMobil would be refurbishing the National Park. That is good news for all tennis players and we are hoping that we can utilise there whenever it is completed,” informed Coach Daley.
“The club has done 90% of the things on our calendar. Some changes will happen in the club in the new year…don’t want to give too many details now.
“There are a lot of young players coming up under the guidance of the coaches and there is hope that with me stepping away, there would be a new vision for the new players coming up and get the same or more opportunities that the others had before.
“So… 2025 will be a year of a lot of newness and with the new tennis courts we hope that more can be done with our programme,” informed the former national tennis coach.
“The positives for the year would be that we were able to complete 90% of the work we planned for our activities.
“There were things that we were unable to do because of a lack of financial and human resources to get them done. Those were the lows, but despite the setbacks, the kids are still eager to play.
“I hope that 2025 brings a lot of opportunities. It’s a new rebirth of the club, as the new players come in and the older ones drift away.
“We hope with this new rebirth we can see growth in the club for the future,” concluded Coach Daley.