JEDDAH: Thirty-nine adults were the first group to graduate from the 2008 Summer Lawn Tennis Workshop held at the Jeddah International School (JIS) courts at Khalidiyyah. The tennis instructional course ran for three weeks.
The workshop, still ongoing, also offers instructional group lessons for children ranging in age from eight to 16 years old. There will be two playing levels, namely beginners for children from 8 to 10 and intermediate for kids from 11 to 16.
According to Robert Saavedra, JIS Director for Tennis Events and Development, the tennis workshop is the first of its kind here in Jeddah and will cater to all tennis enthusiasts, of all nationalities at all playing levels.
“The officers of JIS Tennis Club are keen in improving and developing new faces in the local tennis community. As part of our development program, we aim to hone the tennis skills of everyone especially the youth. Parents as well as players should take advantage of this opportunity. The workshop is affordable and will be conducted by certified professional tennis coaches in the local scene,” said Saavedra.
Among the coaches to conduct the workshop is current Jeddah No. 1 player Rico Gonzales. Other locally known coaches who will share their expertise in the workshop are William Cis, Gio Morte, Joan Gonzales and Aries Feliciano.
During the graduation rites in the recently concluded tennis workshop for adults in the beginner and intermediate levels, positive feedbacks were received as the program was fun as well as challenging. Participants had high praises for the coaching staff as they were patient in handling and teaching everyone the basic tennis strokes.
Because of high demand from the participants, instead of scheduling the event yearly, the organizers led by Joe Tecson, JIS Tennis Club Chairman, announced that they will hold the event twice a year.
The next tennis workshop is tentatively scheduled during Ramadan after Maghreb prayers. Details will be announced later, said Tecson.
He added, “We are very much delighted with the response and support we got from the local tennis community. We also would like to thank our sponsor for making this event happen. We hope other companies will support our cause not only in developing tennis skills, but most importantly and especially, discovering young talents at the grassroots level. Let the kids sign up to our tennis programs and we will know if they have the skills to be the next Roger Federer or Rafael Nadal.”
Schedules for the Junior Tennis Workshop are Thursdays and Fridays from 5 to 7 p.m., starting today and will conclude on Aug. 28.
The event is exclusively sponsored by Racquet Shop and Prince of Deltaz Sports. In order to ensure quality coaching, slots for the Junior Tennis Workshop are limited to 40 participants only. For further details, contact Ed Lagman at 0509503019, Lito Menez at 0508832139 or Henry Sarmiento at 0502578885.
