18 Aug 2017

Two promising tennis players from SOS Children’s Village in Tlokweng are destined for France to hone their skill in the game.

Neo German and Percy Isaac both 11 will train at the Mouratoglou Tennis Camp.

The training camp became possible because of collaboration between Mats Wanger and the Royal Tennis Club in Stockholm.

Together they have bought two air tickets to and from France and provided pocket money.

The founder of Tennis Data Hub, Petrus Molefe said in an interview that tennis for SOS was strictly for children born three years ago,  and that it was the brainchild of Molefe himself and Wanger, who is from Sweden.

He said the idea was to increase the number of sport codes the children could access. He added that they included tennis because it was perceived to be expensive, noting that they want to balance sport and education.

He added that the whole idea culminated in Tennis4SOS.

Mattias Nilsson, one of the individual sponsors of the children, said private members and the Royal Tennis Club in Stockholm and its shop had sponsored SOS Children’s Village since the beginning of the project, and that they have donated tennis equipment and the costs of sending coaches to Botswana.

Nilsson said private members have also made it possible for Tennis4SOS to travel to Stockholm in 2015 and 2016 to train with Swedish children for a week.

“Swedish families hosted Batswana children and showed them what Stockholm has to offer,” he said.

He noted that this year another two Tennis4SOS children would be sponsored to Stockholm.

While in Sweden, Wanger met with Patrick Mouratoglou, Serena Williams coach and founder of the world’s most modern tennis academy and requested that a couple of Tennis4SOS children should come to the academy  and he agreed.

Nilsson said the academy offered to host them for a week, and give them the best training and other multi-sport activities.

He explained that members from the Royal Tennis Club have embraced the idea, and that Tennis4SOS would be working with local sponsors to establish sustainable sponsorship.

Nilssson said the main challenge for SOS was to raise money for the coaching budget, and to give SOS children more opportunities to play in tournaments.

The Mouratoglou Tennis Academy is the ideal destination for all tennis players who can play tennis outdoor all year round.

“At the academy every player is considered a unique project and given personalised training. With more than 20 years of experience, the academy is considered as the most proficient training centre and has trained many future champions.”

The academy is recognised worldwide for the quality of its training, and in 2016 it welcomed more than 2 700 tennis campers from 35 nationalities and 167 student- athletes via its tennis and school programme.  BOPA