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MALTA TENNIS FEDERATION LAUNCHES TENNIS 10s PROGRAMME
9th February 2012
The
Malta Tennis Federation (MTF) announced today the launch of
the Tennis 10s programme. The launch of the programme
coincided with the visit of International Tennis Federation
(ITF)/ Tennis Europe Development officer, Hrvoje Zmajic.
During his visit Mr. Zmajic met with the MTF, the Tennis 10s
MTF sub-committee, club representatives and the coaches. Mr.
Zmajic, who has a Master Degree in Physical Education from
the University of Zagreb, has been coaching Junior Tennis
for over 25 years. Since 2003 he has been the ITF/Tennis
Europe Development Officer for Europe.
Through Tennis 10s players aged 10 and under do not train or
play competition with a regular yellow ball on a full court,
but instead train and compete with a Red, Orange or Green
ball on the appropriate sized court. In Tennis 10s the use
of slower balls and smaller courts enables players to
develop the most efficient technique, and to implement
advanced tactics, that in most cases could not be performed
using the yellow ball on the full court.
The
newly appointed coordinator of the Tennis 10’s programme,
Claire Arrigo explained that the aim of implementing such
programme in Malta is to get more children into the game and
retain them for the longest time possible. ‘The key
objective of the programme is to get children at a young age
to play and stay in the game of Tennis. We need a holistic
approach to the development of the game where children have
fun while playing Tennis.’
A
key component of the programme in the next 12 months is the
organization of MTF-led Tennis Festivals throughout the
various Tennis clubs and schools in Malta. A tentative
schedule of 12 Festivals in 2012 has been set with the
launch event taking place at the Marsa Sports Club in the
Spring. In this Festival, children from different Tennis
Schools and Clubs will be able to play with each other in a
fun and non- competitive environment.
The
success of the programme in Malta will depend on the
application of the Tennis 10s principles by the coaches in
different schools and clubs across the island. To this end
the MTF with the support of the ITF/Tennis Europe is
creating a 5-star coaching programme where coaches will have
access to ITF Tennis experts in the field. This programme
will run over 5 workshops in 2012.
For
more information on Tennis 10s please visit
www.tennisplayandstay.com
Dr.
David Farrugia Sacco, President of the MTF stated that this
project will boost the number of junior players taking up
the game of tennis besides offering the game to young
children in a methodical manner. He thanked Messrs. Gasan
Mamo who are the partners of the federation in promoting the
game of tennis.
DAVID FARRUGIA SACCO CONFIRMED PRESIDENT OF MTF
18th January 2012
David
Farrugia Sacco was uncontested and confirmed as President of
the Malta Tennis Federation together with Mark Camilleri as
Deputy President, Stephen McCarthy as Finance Officer and
Anthony Sammut as Secretary General during the Annual
General Meeting held at Hotel Kennedy Nova on the 18th
January 2012.
The President thanked the outgoing members for the hard work
put in. In his report Dr Farrugia Sacco gave an overview of
the Federation’s activity during the last year highlighting
the changes to the statute, namely an increase in the term
of office of the Executive members, club regulation and club
eligibility. Dr Farrugia Sacco went on to state that “A
healthy federation is a federation that is always updating
itself, and it therefore requires new rules to address new
issues.”
He then informed the meeting that this year the Executive
managed to increase the number of junior international
tournaments to six with the addition of a second ITF World
Ranking U/18 tournament. He said “it is the federation’s
policy to have clubs organise as many such tournaments.
First, and this must not be forgotten, the organisation of
tournaments is beneficial to our youngsters – they however
need to make better use of this opportunity. Secondly, there
is a great opportunity for clubs to grow in stature when
they organise such tournaments.” The Junior International
Tournaments staged this year were held at the Marsa Sports
Club, Tennis Club Kordin and Vittoriosa Lawn Tennis Club.
Without any shadow of a doubt, the most interesting project
launched during 2011, which project is expected to be worked
on during 2012, is the Tennis Ten’s programme. “It is with
great pleasure that I confirm that in the month of February
we shall have the ITF Development Officer Hrvoje Zmajic in
Malta to conduct a specialised course for our coaches.”
In concluding he reported that the outgoing executive was
pleased to confirm that the Federation’s two main sponsors
GasanMamo Insurance and Bank of Valletta have confirmed
their willingness to carry on their relationship with the
Federation.
Malta Tennis Federation targets grass-root
talent with
ITF Tennis 10s
11th November 2011
The Malta Tennis Federation (MTF) is aiming to improve the
playing skills of the younger tennis players based in Malta
by introducing the International Tennis Federation’s (ITF)
Tennis 10s programme. Sponsored by GasanMamo Insurance,
Tennis 10s is a discipline which provides a sound
developmental structure for players aged 10 and under,
through three-colour-coded stages - Red, Orange and Green.
“Smaller, Slower, Easier” is the main slogan for Tennis 10s
and its main purpose is to put into place a three-stage
version of tennis designed specifically for younger
children.
Through the stages a series of developmental steps are
created to allow players to progress along a competitive
pathway according to their age, ability, and confidence. In
the process, the court size, racket length, ball speed and
duration of games all increase until the player is ready to
move onto the full court and use a full ball.
Tennis 10s helps children play the game quicker and feel
more competent on the court, which in turn maintains their
interest in the game,” said Robert Tarpey, MTF Technical
Advisor for Tennis 10s. “The programme will help
youngsters learn skills faster and coaches will teach the
actual game of tennis and not just a remote sets of skills
as most do with this age range at present. This leads to
children being motivated to stay in the game as they can
play and progress. The most important thing is that it
allows young or inexperienced players to learn the skills
and tactics of tennis and actually play the game quicker.
Often children who try to play the game of tennis with the
traditional yellow balls don’t pursue the sport, which is
unfortunate. The ball bounces over their heads, rallies are
short and they spend most of their time picking up balls –
meaning they rapidly lose interest. By allowing children to
actually play the game we now hope to increase the incidence
of competent players with the ability to eventually reach
the national squad.”
In preparation for the launch of the Tennis 10s Mini Red
Competition scheduled beginning of 2012 and backed up the
ITF, Robert Tarpey recently held a demonstration day at
Pembroke Rackets Tennis Club aided by 6 mini Red players and
coaches. During the event MTF President Dr David Farrugia
Sacco said this was a project very much at heart for MTF as
it is an important development in cultivating the love of
this sport at an early age. He thanked GasanMamo for its
continued support of tennis and junior tennis in Malta that
enables the organisation to move forward and to invest in
new initiatives. “We see sport as a very important element
in the lives of children,” said Julian J. Mamo, Director at
GasanMamo. “We hope our contribution helps to promote
tennis among more and more children in Malta.”
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