Monrovia — The Liberia Tennis Federation has kicked off the 2021 National Tennis Tournament with a call for more budgetary support.
The tournament which started on December 23 and will end on Sunday December 26 brought over one hundred tennis athletes.
The three days of tennis action played in several categories including, boys 14 and under, girls 14 and under, mixed double, veterans double and prime single.
Speaking at the opening of the tournament LTF technical director, Alfred Kandarkai said their major goal is to increase the number of tennis players in the country.
Kandarkai disclosed that they want to end the dominance of football and basketball in the country by rebranding their federation.
“Football and Basketball are not the only sports in Liberia. I have come to tell you that tennis has more opportunities than football and basketball. People who play tennis live longer as compared to other sports”.
“The turnout today is very much encouraging as you can see. We want to keep doing these things for our kids so they can develop and become great tennis players in the future,” Kandakia said.
Also speaking, the Organizing Committee Chairperson of Tennis Tournament 2021, Paul King said it’s time Liberia take advantage of the many international tennis competitions.
In his words, having more tennis programs in Liberia will help develop more kids’ talents.
According to King, they have embarked on providing more opportunities for tennis players in the country which will develop more.
“Our focal point for now is to attract kids to this game. This is why we have established this program to help develop our kids”.
“We also want the government to increase the budget for sports. Today, we have installed lights on the court to allow tennis to be played both day and night. I think with government’s support, we can do more for our young people because sports is hugely admired by the chief Patron of Sports President George Manneh Weah,” King added.