THE Guyana Lawn Tennis Association (GLTA) will have their mini-tennis Schools Tennis Initiative (STI) boosted in several primary schools with two key activities this weekend.

The first is the start of a three-week Teacher’s Mini-Tennis Workshop tomorrow at 16:00 h at the National Park Tennis Courts which would be conducted by National Junior Coordinator and Coach Shelly Daly-Ramdyhan for three consecutive Saturdays.

The aim of the programme is to reestablish excitement about the game among teachers especially those who have been newly assigned to primary schools so that they can go back and execute the programme successfully on their schools’ premises.

In New Amsterdam, coach Carol Humphrey will also be introducing the programme to six primary schools tomorrow at 09:00 h at Republic Bank Tennis Court.

In both cases, schools will receive a quantity of mini-racquets and soft balls to assist with the re-establishment of their programme.

The mini-racquets and softer balls are geared for children under 10 years to develop hand-eye coordination. The programme which is subsidised by the International Tennis Federation (ITF) was re-introduced in 2006 in 17 primary schools primarily in Georgetown.

These events have been rescheduled to coincide with this weekend visit from the ITF Regional Development Officer, Anthony Jeremiah, who visits Guyana annually to monitor the programmes.

The top-ranked schools in mini-tennis continue to be Marian Academy and St Angela’s Primary.