For six years it has been a wonderful initiative. I think the impact of it has been underestimated and undervalued here but, thanks to the Sandals Foundation and Sandals Resorts, it has continued. We have introduced. . . if you count this year, we will probably have introduced about 4,000 children to tennis over the past six years.”
The opening paragraph came courtesy of Director of Tigers InFlow Tennis Academy, Sirsean Arlain at recent press conference/cheque presentation at Sandals Halcyon. In attendance were Sandals Halcyon General Manager, Christopher Elliott; PRO, Rhonda Giraudy; Tennis Pro, Chester Dupres; and students associated with the tennis programme.
With assistance from the Ministry of Youth Development and Sports, Arlain hopes to expand the programme, not only in the north, but through tournaments in the south. With that in mind, he feels there could be as many as 1,000 children on the court this year through the programme.
Arlain, who is a former number one-ranked player here and a USA scholarship recipient, views his job (if you can call it that) as his love and passion. He said: “While most people see it as a job, I just see it as another day helping kids. As you can see in the background, you put a racquet and ball in a child’s hand, they’re having fun. That’s the basis to get them into the sport and into more structured programming.”
Arlain added: “We are giving kids a life foundation through the sport of tennis, and the Sandals Foundation is enabling us to do so.”
Speaking on behalf of Sandals, which has sponsored the Academy for six years, Elliott said: “Today we have this press conference to show our additional support, where we are pledging $30,000 to the Tiger InFlow Academy for the development of tennis skills for kids who normally would not have the opportunity to do that. That is one of our initiatives as part of the Sandals Foundation, to develop sports among young people in Saint Lucia and right across the Caribbean.”
