4th September, 2012
Organiser of the ‘Let’s Play Tennis’ summer clinic for kids, Destiny Ford Da-Silva, has said that the clinic lived up to expectation with the discovery of young talents during the event in Lagos.
Da-Silva, who expressed his joy at the success of the clinic, believes that Nigerian players have the potential to become world class players if they are exposed to the right environment.
He told Tennis Special at the National Stadium in Surulere, Lagos that “We thank God for making the programme a success. We’re looking forward to the end of the clinic this week, and I’m glad to inform Nigerians that we’ve discover some players in the junior and intermediate categories.
“Emmanuel Jebutu and Matthew Abamu are some of the boys we discovered. I’m happy to say that the two kids played against each other in the final of a junior tourney held in Abuja last week.”
While speaking about the positives of the clinic, Da-Silva said that the success reassured him that Nigeria can get to the very top in tennis with the right training and platform for competitions.
“This clinic has strengthened my belief that Nigeria can get to the top in tennis and that we can achieve our dreams, no matter how tall they are. The only things we need are the right platform and government intervention with individuals or corporate bodies coming in to sponsor tournaments. We also need good and standard facilities to do well,” he said.
Da-Silva, who is based in Germany, also hopes to make the summer clinic an annual event for the children as this will help the organisers monitor the children’s progress.
“We shall continue with this clinic every year, as this will help us monitor these children’s progress,” the Davis Cup player said.
—Damilare Okunola