The president of Nigerian Tennis Players’ Parents Association, Mr Segun Aluko has disclosed many advantages of the body’s strategy of arranging scholarships in the United States of America for young players.
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He declared further in an exclusive interview with Sports247 that the strategy of thaking youngsters abroad to play tennis is already yielding dividends.
Aluko further pointed out that having many Nigerian young tennis players enrol in American universities is giving hope of better years ahead for the nation in the racquet sport.
He also noted that the genesis of the tennis scholarship initiative was to provide succour for players aged between 16 and 18 years, who are often left hanging in betweeb the junior and senior categories.
Aluko disclosed further, “Our major focus initially was on children between the ages of 10 and 16 but, somewhere along the line, we got to know that talents of 18 years and under also had many challenges.
“In fact, once they cross 16, they are hanging in between … they are no longer junior players but also not yet seniors. The senior players would always bully them when they go for tournaments of the higher level.
“They can no longer play junior competitions but also can’t make headway in the senior ranks. We then discovered that players within that age bracket were getting frustrated, and many were dropping out.
“So, we created the youth category; which allowed organisers to arrange tournaments for that age bracket. They not only win medals but also earn UTRA points.”
He went on to explain that UTRA is a scheme that helps young players reach adequate ranks on the international circuit, and points garnered from that process can be used in processing scholarships for them in American universities.
“Universal Tennis Rating System is a process through which young players can earn ranking points. At the same time, the bracket of 16 and 18 years is the range in which players need things like scholarships in universities.
“The UTRA set-up allows them to apply for scholarships in American universities, which many of them have done. A lot of others are currently waiting, and hopefully that they can also get US scholarships.
“Tennis is a very difficult and expensive sport. It is elitist and next to golf in terms of costs for participation and equipment. We want to help our players overcome those challenges,” Aluko stated.
He concluded by expressing hope that Nigeria will soon hit a level on the international tennis circuit that should be better than what was seen in the days of Nduka Odizor, Tony Mmoh, Yakubu Sulaiman, Godwin Kienka and others of their era.
Aluko posited, “We are a lot better now in Nigeria than we were five years ago. We may not be as good as we were in the late 80s and early 90s, but we are optimistic of better days to come.
“Back then, we had two or three players who were of world standard; but we now have a good number of boys that are already playing tennis in America.
“So, comparing that era with the present time might not be a fair assessment of what we hace in the current trend. With many of our players already in American universities, we should expect better days ahead for Nigeria.”
