Building tennis from the ground up: Zambia set for new era
Zambia is primed for a new era of tennis after the Zambia Tennis Association (ZTA) was reinstated as an active ITF member nation following a 12-year hiatus.
The reinstatement of ZTA prompted a visit from ITF Development Officer Tapiwa Masunga during which she met with National Association President Lighton Musonda and members of the executive committee.
Masunga also met with other stakeholders interested in the development of tennis in Zambia, such as the Zambia National Olympic Committee, Zambia National Sports Council and Olympic Youth Development Centre.
The trip was essentially a fact-finding mission for Masunga to find out the state of the game across the Southern African nation and work out the best way for the ITF to support the development of tennis there.
“It was a big moment for Zambia to return to ITF membership, and I was delighted to visit earlier this year,” said Masunga. “It was a crucial trip, and I was grateful for the input of all agencies with an interest in growing the sport of tennis in Zambia. But, in many ways, the hard work starts now.
"We are in the process of formulating a comprehensive strategy alongside ZTA to boost tennis development across Zambia. This includes grassroots programmes, player training and international participation as we want to ensure that Zambia has all the necessary tools to expand tennis throughout its provinces."
In short, Masunga assessed everything, while the ambitions of the National Association are also key to determine as they are the ones that need to drive projects on a day-to-day basis. As it happens, ZTA appear keen to push the sport as far as possible.
Within minutes of Masunga's arrival, ZTA expressed an interest in staging tournaments during the fourth quarter of 2025. Hosting events is pivotal for player development and for their progression along the player pathway as they bid to advance their careers.
The most likely venue for hosting tournaments in Zambia is the Lusaka Club, which has six clay courts, in the nation's capital city.
The feasibility of Lusaka Club hosting two ITF World Tennis Tour Juniors events, most likely at J30 level, and two combined men’s and women’s tournaments on the ITF World Tennis Tour requires further analysis, which is underway.
While the Lusaka Club has historically been the primary location for ZTA activity, Masunga visited others, including Kabulonga girls’ school, to ensure numerous facilities are considered so the tennis offering across the nation can be widened.
Hosting regional and international events also requires an increase in officiating capacity, with priority given to the training of officials, and discussions over how to do this as quickly as possible are taking place.
“There are so many strands to growing and developing a sport across a nation, but I was enthused by what I saw in Zambia, and it is always exciting to see an engaged nation that is keen to improve tennis for generations to come,” added Masunga.
“The ITF’s mission is to increase participation, improve coaching and facilities and nurture talent. That is key developmental work, and this is my aim in Zambia, as it is across the entire Southern Africa region.”
ZTA is also keen to establish its own National Tennis Centre in Lusaka which can act as a hosting hub as well as a principal venue for staging key development programmes such as the ITF Junior Tennis Initiative (JTI).
The JTI is a key part of a National Association’s development pathway for players aged 14 and under and provides opportunities for children to pick up a racket for the first time.
The programme is often the launch point for aspiring competitive players and a platform to introduce talent to the game.
Having encouraged children to enjoy the sport in locally organised competitions and sessions within schools, the community and tennis venues, the better players can then be fed into international competition.
The good news is that Zambia already has 11 active venues and clubs across the nation where tennis is delivered at grassroots level, so there should be no barriers to the JTI getting off the ground.
An extension to this is coach education. For any developing tennis nation, coach education is so important as it directly impacts the growth and sustainability of tennis worldwide and improves the delivery of tennis from the grassroots up.
Masunga encouraged as many coaches from Zambia as possible to attend the 2025 ITF World Coaches Conference, which is taking place 29-31 October in Lithuania, while other plans are ongoing.
In the immediacy, the ITF Academy could well be an invaluable source of content for coaches, while longer-term the plan is to establish a coaching structure and deliver coaches’ workshops and tutor training.
Further positive news from a participation perspective is that Zambia has signed up to the ITF World Tennis Number – the global rating system for tennis players that provides a single scale for all players, from beginners to professionals.
The World Tennis Number will encourage more players to participate in local, competitive events, and the next steps for Zambia is to set up a tournament management system with help from the ITF digitalisation programme.
There is the sense that there are many chapters still to write in the history of tennis in Zambia. There is clearly work to do, but with the ITF and National Association working together, a brighter future may well lie ahead.