BASSETERRE, St. Kitts -THE St. Kitts-Nevis Tennis Association (SKNTA) has deemed the just concluded clinic for chair umpires and linesmen a success and a platform for the development of the sport discipline in the Federation.
Close to 20 persons from across the Federation were taught the basics in umpiring, scoring and other areas of the sport.
Vice President of the SKNTA, Andrew Abraham acknowledged that the clinic was an important part of the Association’s preparation for the staging of World Junior Tournament in November.
“What we need to do in St. Kitts and Nevis is to build our officiating capacity in the sense that we want to have as many persons as possible who are exposed to formal officiating and training, so that when we have our local, regional and international tournaments we can draw within our ranks.”
The Federation was awarded the J5 Junior International Tournament earlier this year.
The VP pointed out that training of the officials was one of the priority areas for the sport, which is now expected to lift the standard of play of players in the Federation.
“The officiating must be able to go with the development of the actually players. You don’t want to end up in a situation where we have players performing at a certain level and then the officiating itself is at a lower level,” Abraham added.
Clinic facilitator, International Tennis Federation (ITF) White Badge Official, Anthony Jameson commended the Association for the clinic, pointing out that new officials would assist in lifting the game in the Federation.
He said the participants must continue with training before the international tournament comes along so that they could be versed in the new skill sets provided to them.
Jameson noted that during the tournament, several officials from the ITF would travel to St. Kitts-Nevis to work along with the chair umpires and others playing an integral role in the tournament.
“We wouldn’t send them out on the court by themselves, and they would be working along with the experienced officials. That is what I have told the president that at this tournament, besides the referee coming, there would be about three other officials to come,” he noted.
