Tennis SA (TSA) on Monday announced the continued sponsorship of the third annual BNP Paribas Coaches Mentorship Programme, which aims to widen the diversity of registered tennis coaches in South Africa.
The announcement is a welcome development as the world continues to adapt during the novel coronavirus pandemic, which has put most sporting initiatives and events on hold indefinitely.
The programme seeks to equip South Africans – particularly those from historically disadvantaged communities – with coaching skills and licences, in an effort to develop the sport in all South African communities.
More than 140 coaches have benefited from the programme since its inception, which included 45 recruits in 2018 (44 per cent of whom were women) and 96 recruits in 2019.
The third iteration of the programme will continue its increasingly strong female-empowerment focus, with 53 per cent of female candidates in its third year also.
Tennis SA chief executive Richard Glover said: “BNP Paribas is committed to growing local tennis and making our sport more accessible to all communities in South Africa, especially with the development of coaches nationally, in particular our female coaches.”
The remote programme will give coaches access to the International Tennis Federation (ITF) Academy, which is an online education platform offering a variety of short courses – ranging from general sport to tennis-specific topics. The coaches will also have access to ITF iCoach – the official library which contains high-quality videos from conferences around the world, articles as well as scientific research.
Additional measures have been put into place to address challenges related to internet access, with each coach provided with data for the duration of the e-learning programme.
In partnership with ANA and Sports Leo
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