Last Saturday, July 1, marked the end of a year long program in which many children benefited from a great experience. The Anguilla Tennis Academy’s After School Program began on September 5, 2005 and throughout the year, 70 children gained much experience in a sport which requires much dedication.

This program took place at the James Ronald Webster Park on the only court that was in any condition to be used. The fact that only one court was playable meant that the program was spread out during the week and the children were placed into four groups. Each group was given 3 hours of instruction during the week. The ages of the children ranged from 4-17.

Since 1996, the Anguilla Tennis Academy has been dedicated to providing the highest quality tennis instruction to Anguillan, Caribbean and International youth in a competitive environment while encouraging exemplary sportsmanship. Other goals include making tennis athletic scholarships available for children who excel in the training programs, to foster long lasting friendships through our cultural exchange and outreach programs, to promote a strong sense of community by recruiting and hiring graduates of the ATA to return as tennis coaches and to establish professional relationships with other local, regional and international tennis programs.

The primary goal of the Anguilla Tennis Academy is to expose children to the joys, discipline and rigors of the life-long sport of tennis where they can acquire technical skill, experience ideal sportsmanship and develop a strong sense of community. The Anguilla Tennis Academy is committed to developing healthy minds and providing educational opportunities for children through the sport of tennis. The academy was founded on the principle of using tennis as a vehicle to reach and empower children and to equip them with the skills and knowledge to become responsible citizens of their community. It is the belief of the Anguilla Tennis Academy that all children should have the opportunity to learn the game regardless of economic status. The Academy provides high quality affordable programs and ensures that no child is denied access or the opportunity to participate. The program encourages an active healthy lifestyle that children will be able to incorporate into their everyday lives. The ATA will help build valuable life skills for children, including work ethic, competitiveness, sportsmanship, and teamwork. Participants will be able to establish relationships and share experiences with other athletes through this program. Moreover, the ATA will provide a nurturing environment where children will learn how to apply the principles of sacrifice, work, courage and service towards building a successful life and becoming ambassadors of the sport of tennis.

All of the aforementioned principles and goals were achieved during this past year. Not only did the children become better citizens, more mature, and more goal oriented. They actually became excellent tennis players. A factor of great importance in terms of the success of the program is the coaches. Marvin Hazell, head pro of the ATA, spearheaded this program while utilizing Denny Derrick and Vallan Hodge as his assistants. All three tennis pros were past participants of the program and therefore have a great deal of loyalty to it and the children as they have benefited in the past. The children and the coaches became very close throughout the year and everyone involved developed, nurtured, and maintained a caring and giving relationship. Although tennis is mostly an individual sport, all of the children and the coaches were one big team.

All the children involved improved immensely and the ATA expects great things from them in the future. During the Easter break, however, there was a tournament held at Cuisinart Resort and Spa so that the kids could showcase themselves to their parents and the public. All four groups competed in their own tournament and I would like to highlight the winners. In the pee-wee group (ages 4-6), José Pablo Estrada beat out all of his peers to take the trophy with Xander Owen Vasilis coming in second by one point. In group 2 (ages 7-10), Mikiah Harrigan blew the competition away. Mikiah is most certainly one of the most talented kids in the program. In group 3 (ages 11-14), Daniel Andrews deservingly took the first place trophy as he has worked extremely hard to improve his level of play. In group four (advanced group), there were two separate tournaments; girls and boys. On the boy’s side, Ojumiri Lake was the eventual winner with Melissa Mussington taking the first place trophy for the girls.
Marvin Hazell, head pro of the Academy, has done an excellent job with these children and should be commended for his dedication to the youth of Anguilla. He was there for the children, day in and day out, never missing any sessions. It is an outstanding thing to see a young man take ownership and responsibility of a program that is for the betterment of the youth and the island. It is my hope that more young people in Anguilla will take after Marvin and invest in the future of their country. Currently, there are many youth programs trying to accomplish the same things the ATA has. I commend them as well, and hope that we all take notice of the many good people and children in our community that are making a great effort to maintain Anguilla as a peaceful and proud nation.

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