Golden Penny Clinic Excites Tarmena

Head Coach of the wheelchair tennis, Frank Termena, has expressed delight over the initiative of the Golden Penny Noodles to organise a wheelchair tennis clinic in conjunction with the Nigeria Tennis Federation, NTF, in Kano, next month.

Tarmena said the gesture is coming on the heels of International Tennis Federation, ITF, recent declaration of Nigeria as one of the fastest-growing global force in wheelchair tennis, adding that the gesture would fast track the growth of the game in the country.

“This is a good development for wheelchair tennis in the country. It comes at the right time when the country is just being recognised by the ITF as the fastest-growing global force of the game,” he said.

He opined that the programme would spark a revolution in wheelchair tennis development, if it is sustained at least for the next five to seven years. He added that the clinic would discourage street begging in the state and the country at large.

“The clinic would afford us the opportunity to discover more talents. It would also empower the physically challenged people across the country,” he added.

Tarmena, however, urged other corporate outfits and well meaning Nigerians to emulate the kindly gesture of the Golden Penny Noodles, saying it would help in reducing the crime rate in the country.

Meanwhile, the director, Flour Mills Nigeria PLC, makers of Golden Penny brand of Noodle, John Cumantaros, has stated that the championship is aimed to give the physically-challenged people hope and to suppress the stigma associated with disabilities through tennis.

He said the project will also help to reduce the burden of many families that have physically challenged persons, who often depend on others members of the family for their means of livelihood.

Cumantaros, however, disclosed that the choice of Kano was deliberate due to the high-number of physically-challenged persons in the Northern part of the country.

Last month, Nigeria, through its consistent rise in the game, had its wild card expanded to three by the ITF for next year’s Paralympics Games in London.