Tuesday, May 21, 2013
Dubai: The President of Tennis Emirates (TE) has laid out a ten-year plan to develop and nurture the game at grassroots level in the UAE.
“Our most immediate concern is the development of tennis at grassroots level, especially among the UAE nationals,” Shaikh Hasher Al Maktoum, TE President told Gulf News after distributing portfolios to the new members on Monday.
“Enlarging the base of tennis in the UAE is by far our biggest concern and priority. There is a huge surge in popularity for tennis and we want to see tennis being played everywhere, be it in the clubs, public parks or even residential compounds,” he added.
Abdul Rahman Falaknaz will continue in his role as first vice-president, while new member Ahmad Abdul Malik will be the second vice-president and Khalid Al Ali from Fujairah will be the new general secretary who will look after the national team in place of Nasser Madani.
Dubai Tennis Championship Tournament Director Salah Tahlak will head the finance department and also be the UAE’s representative at the ITF, while there are two new members, Amina Taher from Mubadala, who will head the development and strategy department, and Sarah Baqer, who will be in charge of development of women’s tennis.
“We can never forget the hard work put in by the old members. We need to just take it off from there and carry on the good work so that tennis grows in the UAE. Tennis is one sport that can be played for life and we need to impress upon the residents of the UAE the benefits of a sport like tennis,” Shaikh Hasher said.
He said the new board of directors has a ten-year time-frame before them to ensure the growth of this sport. “The UAE has a lot of achievements in the Gulf and Arab levels in the junior category in the past. We need to continue and start targeting something similar in the seniors as well,” he said.
“The ultimate goal should be the development of the national team. But we cannot have a strong national squad without having a proper development at the grassroots. We have a development model similar to that of what is followed in Germany. I believe we have all the means to achieve our goals and objectives and I trust this board of directors will work hard to achieve these,” Shaikh Hasher said.
By Alaric Gomes Senior Reporter
Gulf News 2013. All rights reserved.
