The technical director of Nigeria Tennis Federation (NTF), Saidu Musa has disclosed that the country’s players need financial support to help them pay entry fees and register for international competitions.
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Speaking against the backdrop of this year’s finals at the ITF J30 World Junior Tennis Tour In Abuja, Musa pointed out that many of Nigeria’s good players could not afford the high cost of registration.
He, however, added in an exclusive interview with Sports247 that Nigeria’s players put up commendable performances in both legs of the two-week programne and the country’s female number one, Khadijat Eleoja Mohammed even won the first phase.
Musa disclosed, “The two weeks competition was exciting, impressive and entertaining. It was worth all the trouble that we went through from beginning till the end.
“The biggest lesson for us in the Nigeria Tennis Federation (NTF) is that, with the standard of play we have seen and the performances of our players, we have to step up our efforts.
“It’s now left for us to go back to the drawing board again. We must intensify our efforts and get more programmes for our kids.”
The NTF’s technical egg head pointed out that some of Nigeria’s players pulled off great results in both legs of the competition, and stressed that those performances are pointers to bright days ahead of the country on the international tennis circuit.
He added, “We need more training programmes for our players and more competitions; so that they will continue to improve. By the time they are playing again in July, they will do better than they did in this tournament.
“It has been an exciting competition, and we have seen players from Nigeria play in the final. We had a ladies’ finalist and a boys’ finalist. In fact, one of our female players won the final in week one.”
However, while noting that the NTF has to keep the country’s senior and junior players busy all year round, Musa conceded that funding is the major hurdle they will have to overcome, hence his appeal for financial support from various sectors in and outside Nigeria.
Musa concluded emphatically, “It has been a nice one for us as a country. All we now need from Nigerians is more support, especially financially.
“We want to put more focus on this type of tournament, because it is the entry level for senior international tennis. It is also a global tournament … but it is very expensive to run.
“Our players also need a lot of money to pay their entry fees. They also need money to train and prepare properly. During the competition itself, they need more money for accommodation and feeding.
“So, we will appreciate if we get support from individuals, corporate organisations and government to sustain what we’ve started.”
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