BASSETERRE, St. Kitts - AN 18-member team of junior tennis players and coaches departed the Federation today (Dec. 9) to compete in a one-week OECS Tri-nations Tournament in Antigua and Barbuda.
The Tournament, which is being played at the Cortsland Hotel, is part of enhancing the skills of junior players from St. Lucia, Antigua and Barbuda and St. Kitts-Nevis, while giving them the opportunity to compete on the regional circuit.
Officials from the St. Kitts-Nevis Tennis Association are focused on developing the next generation of local players who will be competing at a high level, while also providing a pathway to academic prowess through scholarship opportunities.
That was underscored by SKNTA’s Public Relations Officer, Jermine Abel, who in an invited comment told SKNVibes Sports that the body had laid out a mandate to provide exposure and high level competition for local junior players.
“One of the things we are looking at doing is ensuring that our players have exposure to various levels of the sports discipline. Many of them on the team played on the regional circuit in the ITF Tournaments; however, others do not have that exposure because it can be costly for them due to air travel. So, when tournaments of this nature comes up, it provides a great platform for them to gain the necessary experience while testing their techniques,” noted Abel.
The PRO reminded that this is just one of a number of tournaments with which the SKNTA has provided the junior players.
Locally, there have been a number of competitions to sharpen the players’ skills and keeping them engaged.
Just recently the SKNTA wrapped up its Junior Nationals, while last week several players were engaged in a competition before the departure for St. John’s.
The team is being led by President Wakins Chiverton, who is also one of the National Coaches, Ludis Francis and Sheldon Chiverton - two other Junior National Coaches.
The Junior OECS Tri-nations Tournament, which runs from December 10-16, will see only Antigua-Barbuda and St. Kitts-Nevis competing, as SKNTA officials noted that the St. Lucia Tennis Association indicated at the last moment that they could not send players due to the high cost of airfare to Antigua.
Also, that island will not be sending a contingent to participate in the International Tennis Federation Tournament in Trinidad and Tobago due to the same reason.
Players on the The Federation’s team are Gabriel Duggin, Shreya Rawat, Levoncia Browne, Arianna Banchard, Danielson Lybert, Khalil Burroughs, Michael Duggins, Matthew Owen, Cayden Powell, Levon Browne, Pavel Panvilov, Jayda Browne, Shawn Dickie, Kaeden Bradshaw and Sushant Rawat.
