Fredrick Moyo
Masvingo – based Inspiration Tennis Academy (ITA) has done it again after scooping 11 medals at the just ended Mantas Tennis tournament that commenced on October 14 and ended on October 16, 2022.
The tournament that catered for different age groups including toddlers, U 12, 14 and 18 was hosted at Mutare Girls High in Mutare and there were players from Mutare, Masvingo and Harare.
In an interview with TellZim News, ITA founder and head coach Privy Fanisai said she was really happy with the performance her academy put up at the tournament.
“I am happy with the medals that we managed to collect and also with the performance we managed to put up at the tournament, it shows the players are improving day by day.
“These tournaments are important for our Academy as kids meet different people from different places, offer opportunities for local or even foreign scholarships and increased chances to be in the national team as they will be having the exposure they need.
“Also after participating at the tournaments, they are given points that will also assist them in making it to the national team, so it is an opportunity to us as an academy for our players to showcase their talents,” said Fanisai.
She also thanked parents for the motivation and support they are giving their children as tennis is expensive to sponsor.
“I would like to thank the parents for supporting their kids in this sport, tennis is an expensive sport to sponsor, but the parents are there for their kids,” added Fanisai.
She however said they did not manage to travel with other academy team players to the tournament as they do not have sponsors to support them financially.
“We did not manage to take some kids to the tournament because we did not have sponsorship as an academy. Parents are the ones supporting their kids financially and this affects some less privileged players who are left out,” she said.
Fanisai wished a bright future and a better tomorrow for her academy team players.
“My wish as coach is for my players achieve more with tennis, they need to remain strong and vigilant one day we will get there,” added Fanisai.
ITA won 7 gold medals, 2 silver medals and 2 bronze medals.
Nine participants namely Zvaitwa Sitemere, Mazviita Gava, Atipaishe Nyandoro, Junior Sitemere, Ruvarashe Chinhiya, Munyaradzi Thomu, Lucia Sitemere, Tatenda Dehwe and Kevin Saravoye and recently managed to collect 12 gold, 8 silver and 5 bronze medals at National Tennis tournaments held earlier this year.
Fanisai was the only African Tennis coach to attend a tennis coaching and training camp that ran for two months (June 13, 2022 and ending on August 14, 2022) in United States of America (USA) where they were equipped with coaching skills.
