'Making a statement': A year of tennis firsts for the Maldives
The Maldives is the latest nation to harness the development spotlight as the ITF continues its quest to nurture and promote tennis in all corners of the world.
It has been a hugely memorable and significant period for the Maldives after the nation this year made its competition debut in Davis Cup and Billie Jean King Cup.
“It has been a very important stage for tennis development in Maldives because any nation going into the big time of Davis Cup and Billie Jean King Cup is making a statement,” said Jonathan Stubbs, ITF Development Officer for South, South East and East Asia.
“A nation competing in such tournaments is the result of a lot of hard work in the development space and is the result of everything which has gone before. This is a great achievement.”
More recently, during the ITF’s first official developmental visit to Maldives, the nation staged its maiden ITF Play Tennis course in the capital city Malé and launched a new Junior Tennis Initiative (JTI) schools programme.
The ITF Play Tennis course is an introductory-level coaching certification for those looking to work with beginner players and ensured more than a dozen instructors from across the Maldives gained an initial qualification.
The JTI, meanwhile, provides opportunities for children to pick up a racket for the first time and encourages them to play in locally organised competitions and sessions within schools, the community and tennis venues.
The launch of the JTI programme in schools attracted more than 200 Maldivian children from 17 schools, while the nation’s Minister of National Planning, Housing and Infrastructure Mohamed Aslam was on hand to welcome the initiative.
“The JTI is the launch point for aspiring competitive players and a platform to introduce more talent to the game within a country’s national development programme,” added Stubbs.
“Attracting 200 children is a great start and hopefully they will get more and more as time goes on.
"Allied to the ITF Play Tennis course, the aim would be for coach education to be implemented locally so that players can develop and perform in junior team competitions and then, in the future, Davis Cup and Billie Jean King Cup. That's the cycle."