Tennis 10s programme in Kuching this coming weekend

2

FLASHBACK: Participants of the ‘Play and Stay’ programme at SLTA tennis centre in this Oct 2010 file photo.

KUCHING: The Lawn Tennis Association of Malaysia (LTAM) Tennis 10s programme, first introduced here two years ago, is making a comeback in the Kuching City.

Sarawak Lawn Tennis Association (SLTA) president Dato Patrick Liew said yesterday that LTAM development officer Taisto Sikkonen will be conducting the programme at SLTA tennis centre this weekend.

“I had actually tried to get Sikkonen to come here at the end of last year to continue with the programme but unfortunately his schedule was tight as he had to conduct similar programme elsewhere in the country,” he said.

To his knowledge, Sikkonen had conducted one programme in Miri in the first half of last year.

“Forty-two trainee teachers from the Batu Lintang Teachers Training College will be attending a coaching course on Friday (Oct 5) while 126 students from primary schools around the city will be participating in the tennis clinic on Saturday and Sunday,” said Liew.

To encourage participation among the school children, Liew said SLTA had the entry fees waived.

“The programme is to basically introduce tennis to young kids and let them have a choice of taking up what sport they want.”

“This programme is very effective for tennis development and it will also serve to compliment our talent identification programme done in schools annually,” he added.

It is also aimed at creating awareness that tennis can be played at a very young age. And it has been proven that kids as young as four years old can start playing the game,” said Liew.

Tennis 10s programme is adopted from the International Tennis Federation’s (ITF) “Play and Stay” programme which was already successful in other countries like the US, United Kingdom, France, Germany, Holland, Spain, Australia, China, Japan and South Korea.

The programme was launched in the world a couple of years back and was basically a programme for children aged 10 and under.

To make learning how to play tennis easier and fun, the “Play and Stay Programme” adopts modified balls that have lower compression, smaller rackets and court sizes as well as the scoring system.

The programme also emphasises on a multi-stage of play whereby the children will get to play more matches in a competition.

In the past, 50 per cent of the players have already gone home before the competition ends but with the new programme, they can get to play more matches even if they lose in the first round.

By the time the children are ten years old, they will be ready to play standard tennis.