The
project started in April 2007
with a first stage organized
along 15 working days,
involving a group of tennis
teachers and about 200
children only in the capital
of Sierra Leone, Freetown. The
activity was carried out under
the umbrella of the ministries
of Youth & Sport and
Education.
At
the beginning a workshop
took place
at the headquarters of
Ministry of Youth
& Sport with the
representatives of the
government for
introducing the
project and planning
the activities. The
meeting was attended
by Mr. Alphan
Kukor of Ministry of
Youth & Sport, Mr.
Abibi Lahai
representative of
Ministry of
Education, 3 local
tennis teachers and
one journalist with
the role of preparing
a report about the
work of Tennis for
Africa for local press
and radio netwoks.
The
stage was organized at
the courts located
at Hill Station. Tennis for
Africa was represented by the
teacher Lorenzo
Marcuzzi who
introduced
the program to take
place trying to
immediately involve
the local teachers.
After the preliminary
phase, Marcuzzi opened
a practical training
on court.
The
activity included technical sessions
keeping in mind the
needs of beneficiaries,
considering the age of
children, their basic
tennis level and the
sport &
humanitarian
priorities. For this
reason the stage
was also useful
for defining the main
guidelines for the
future, focussing on
the support to
youngers, between 6
and 12 years old.
In the afternoon the
program included a
practical work on
court involving
children in games with
teachers.
Intermediate
meetings with
the
representative
of minister of
Youth and
Sport took
place in order
to keep
informed
about the
project
program and
goals. The
activity of
the workshop
took place in
different
venues closed
to the capital
sport stadium,
according to
the will of
local
authorities.
In the final
phase the
teacher
organized the
stage for the
best players
of Sierra
Leone: the
age of players is
between 16 and 18
years old. Tennis for
Africa delegation
visited 6 tennis
schools in Freetown:
all
the hard courts
were in bad condition
with the
urgent need to be
restrucutred soon. The
schools are attended by
a huge number of
children who play with
rudimental tools fond
everywhere on the
streets. Basic tennis
equipment is strongly
required!
