By Muftau Ogunyemi
Mrs Betty Anyanwu-Akeredolu, Wife of Ondo State Governor says she has trained no fewer than 1,020 children in Lawn Tennis at the 2022 Summer Tennis Clinic across the 18 Local Government Area of the state.
The News Agency of Nigeria(NAN) reports that the summer tennis clinic is the initiative of Anyanwu-Akeredolu to constructively integrate education and sports in a sustainable social form for children between four and 13.
Anyanwu-Akeredolu made the disclosure during the closing ceremony of the event held on Tuesday in Akure.
The wife of the governor, who was represented by Mrs Funke Olaniyi, Wife of Akure South Local Government Chairman said that the training was to help children to gain the requisite experience needed to become professional Tennis players.
Anyanwu-Akeredolu, therefore called on parents to support the vision to improve the future of their children.
“The children have proved beyond reasonable doubts that they are open to learning
“So, it has become imperative for all parents to help the talented children attain full potentials and achieve their dreams,” she said.
Earlier, Mrs Olamide Falana, Chairman, Management Committee of the Summer Tennis Clinic, who said that the 2022 edition was the fifth, explained that more than 1,000 children had been trained since inception.
According to Falana, this year’s edition was extended to other towns in two senatorial districts of the state to afford children in the nooks and crannies to also benefit from the initiative.
“The Tennis train which took off on August 15 at Okitipupa, southern senatorial district had 320 children engaged for eight sporty days.
“The train, again, had a stop over at Owo, the northern senatorial district, where 300 children benefited from the training in the game of tennis.
“Here we are today, where the train has finally stopped in Akure, the central senatorial district, capturing the biggest turnout of 400 children, making a total of 1,020 children who have been trained in the state.
“This has greatly increased the reach of the programme by 100 per cent in one season. This obviously is a massive evidence of acceptance of the programme and readiness of parents to support their children’s development,” Falana said.
She said that some of the graduating children had been enrolled in the Arabinrin Tennis Club, a higher learning ground where they were exposed to competitions with their counterparts in other parts of the world.
The Chairman appreciated the wife of the governor for the initiative and support during the programme, and urged parents to sustain the initiative.
Similarly, Mr Dele Ologun, the Chairman of the occasion and also the State Commissioner for Youths and Sports, thanked the governor’s wife for her initiatives.
He appealed to the children and parents to make use of the opportunity “as the future of any nation lies in the hands of children”.
Akeredolu trains 1,020 children in tennis in Ondo
