Latin for beginners: development and participation in Central America
Throughout 2021 there will be an increased focus upon participation as the ITF continues its drive to broaden opportunity, support talent and work towards achieving an ambitious target of 120 million – 30 million more – playing tennis globally by 2030.
As the year unfolds, ITFWorld and itftennis.com will circumnavigate the globe and report on what is happening throughout its various regions.
In the latest in this series, we catch up with Cecilia Ancalmo, the ITF’s development officer for Central America, who provides an overview of participation in her region before acting as our guide as we traverse 10 different countries.
"I am the ITF’s Development Officer for Central America and work with the Spanish-speaking nations within COTECC (Central American and Caribbean Tennis Confederation).
"Despite certain similarities, my region is very diverse. Mexico, for instance, is a large nation with a big tennis tradition, whereas some of the smaller countries have little or no sporting heritage.
"The nature of the region means I oversee interconnected inland nations as well as islands such as Cuba, Puerto Rico and Dominican Republic, so the landscape is varied.
"Each nation has its own strengths, while the introduction and establishment of ITF World Tennis Number has huge potential for growing participation and creating opportunities within our communities of recreational players.
"According to the 2019 ITF Global Tennis Report, the COTECC region represents only 0.7 per cent of the world’s tennis players, which means there are incredible possibilities for growth.
"In many of the Central American nations, social tennis is important in the life of private clubs and ITF World Tennis Number will enrich this enthusiasm. It will be an essential tool.
"For now, however, I am going to guide you through the 10 countries of my region and provide a snapshot of the development and participation picture there.”
The remainder of the article, which first appeared as an exclusive interview in the spring 2021 edition of ITFWorld, can be read here or clicking the image below.
