The Netherlands Amsterdam Co-financed by the Krajicek Foundation, the IC of Netherlands provides facilities, equipment and tennis coaching to disadvantaged children in the Reigersbos district of Amsterdam. The region is a multicultural district primarily of Surinam and African roots with considerable unemployment or one-parent families. The programme accommodates approximately 60 children who receive 2-4 hours tennis per week. The programme hosts junior team competitions and the ABN AMRO Young Talent Trophy which provide an opportunity to the children to play in tournaments. The aim is to build life skills such as discipline, fair play, adherence to rules of tennis and teamwork, as well as a commitment to self-development and healthy nutritional habits. Watch new video promo from Holland ‘Game, Set & Match’ tenniskids promo from IC Tennis on Vimeo. Sylvia's Story December 2017 In 1990 Sylvia ’s parents moved from Nigeria to Amsterdam, Netherlands in search for a better life. They settled in the Reigersbos area of Amsterdam where Sylvia was born in 2000. Until then the only tie the Okafor family had with tennis was an occasional glimpse on television. Then one summer afternoon they met a neighbour who started the present streettennis project on the nearby playground. The neighbour invited father Okafor to bring his girl to find out if she would enjoy the game of tennis. Very soon it became a weekly sports activity for the 5-year old Sylvia. After a short while it became very clear that Sylvia had a special talent for tennis. Her participation in the streettennis project increased from 1 to 3 times playing tennis per week. At the age of 8 years she had to move on to a professional tennis academy to further improve her tennis skills. During the years the training hours increased and Sylvia became a promising junior in the Netherlands in the different age groups; at the same time her parents saw to it that tennis made her happy and that her enthusiasm stayed high. The training sessions and the matches enlarged her confidence and mental strength. Combining tennis and school meant also for her: discipline and responsibility. Playing tournaments all over the Netherlands and after a while also in a few European cities broadened her horizons in general. Through the tennis career of his daughter, father Okafor also got more and more involved in tennis and is now already for many years a highly respected volunteer trainer in our streettennis project. In october this year father and daughter traveled back to Nigeria, where the now 17-years old Sylvia played her first international ITF-tournament. Time will tell how far her tennis dream- that started in our streettennis project - will bring her! 10th- 22nd October 2017 Chuks,Tennis Project Trainer, and his daughter, Sylvia Okafor, visited Nigeria where Chuks was born and Sylvia participated in her first ITF Future tournaments. This photograph was taken at a tennis clinic in Lagos, for local kids, run by Chuks and Sylvia; Chuks is in the blue shirt. Children with a mother in a small village called Asaba, in Nigeria, where Chuks was born. The indoor facilities at Reigersbos, Amsterdam. Exchange Tournament 17th June 2017 Recently a large group of our street tennis kids and their coaches assembled for a bus ride to The Hague to play matches against kids from a similar project as ours. In order to create equal matches, the children were divided in three levels according to their tennis skills. In the morning short singles matches were played and after a joint lunch the program continued with doubles. Our children enjoyed this tennis trip very much. At the end all were rewarded with a medal, to emphasize that participation was more important than winning. On the way back to Amsterdam there was a short break for a typical Dutch delight: eating pancakes. All-in all a very worthwhile experience for our kids with respect to how competing in a sporty manner and at the same time making new friends. Hans Adama van Scheltema ICP The Netherlands The Tennis Kids World Tour June 2017 For the first time this year, some of the kids in our “street tennis” project are participating in the so called ‘Tennis Kids World Tour’, organized by the Dutch tennis association. It's called World Tour because the dates when this competition for children aged 6-12 is played, coincide with the international tournaments on the ATP or WTA circuit. The tennis kids are divided in 4 groups, based on age and level of play: red - orange - green - yellow. The 4 colours of the groups are matching with the type of balls the children are playing with. Beginners play with a red ball: bigger and much softer than the regular yellow ball with which the best children are playing. The red group plays on a mini court: from service box to service box. In the orange group the children play on a 3/4 court, where the baseline is halfway the service line and the normal baseline. Green and yellow play on the whole court. This World Tour is an excellent opportunity for our kids to get some experience in playing matches, have fun and meet children from other tennis clubs. Previous Article Spain Next Article Uruguay
