14 Mar 2016

The Francistown tennis club was the place to be this weekend as the Francistown School of Tennis launched the official opening of the Babolat Tennis three-day series on Friday March 11.

The event was graced by the presence of the French Ambassador to Botswana, Anne de la Blanche, Botswana National Sports Council (BNSC) officials, Ministry of Youth, Sport and Culture (MYSC) officials and representatives from the sponsors: Orange Botswana, Air Liquide, Camusat and AGS Fraser.

In her address, De la Blanche commended the school’s director, Dominique Raguin for training young people to become the next top athletes for Botswana.

She said sport was viewed as a priority in diplomacy as it teaches good behaviour. She added that sports gives teenagers a chance to better their lives instead of roaming the streets.

She called on more young people to take part in sporting activities, saying it would not only benefit their conduct, but would also help in their wellbeing. “Sports have the ability to build ambitions as what happens in sports applies in the external world,” De la Blanche said.

She said sports was the answer to many challenges and that tennis has the ability to help people to be positively oriented. “The Francistown School for Tennis has presented a platform for children to explore the world as they go for different national and international competitions.

The encounter with others from different backgrounds has the ability to shape their minds,” she said.

Furthermore, she urged stakeholders to appreciate efforts made to host the tournament and promised to recruit more sponsors in order to witness the good work done to improve lives.

For his part, Raguin said the school has around 44 athletes of four-12 years old. He said professionalising sports from a young age was important as was another way of diversifying the economy.

He commended two clubs from Zimbabwe that came with 15 participants and all the sponsors that made the event successful. He said tennis builds the self esteem of players as they proceed in the ranks.

He said his school also provides equipment that was conducive to young athletes as everything was adjusted to fit their physical stature so that by the time they become professional they would have acquired the right skills. ENDS