Early childhood tennis fun day staged in Hanover
FORTY budding young five-year-old tennis players who participated in the Spanish-Jamaican Foundation (SJF), Tennis Jamaica (TJ) Play & Stay Tennis programme in Hanover were treated to an Xmas Fun Day at SJF member hotel, Grand Palladium last Thursday.
The children, who hail from Sandy Bay, Pond Side, Cold Spring and Hopewell Basic Schools, watched a mini-set exhibition and enjoyed playing tennis-themed games, as well as exploring the hotel’s play areas with their teachers and some of their parents.
“It is clear,” said SJF General Manager, Dr Rebecca Tortello, “that the children have a keen interest in the sport of tennis and that the activities are helping them to develop their fine and gross motor skills in a fun way”.
TJ coach Steve Nolan is grateful to this programme that he believes is laying a firm foundation for tennis in the 3- to 5-year age group: “We hope it will continue and expand to other parishes.”
Valued at close to $800,000 annually, the programme uses the International Tennis Federation’s (ITF) ‘Play & Stay’ method designed especially for young children to maximise the many benefits for this age group which include brain development, self-esteem, hand/eye co-ordination, concentration, self-control and social interaction.
In 2008, The Spanish-Jamaican Foundation (www.spanishjamaicanfoundation.org) established the Montego Bay-based Real Madrid Football School for Social Integration, and as Dr Tortello explained: “This partnership is a natural progression for us because although the most popular sport in Spain, as in Jamaica, is football, Spain is also highly respected as a tennis powerhouse. Programmes like this are helping Jamaica increase our excellence in tennis — a sport with a direct pathway to higher educational opportunities.”