240 students for Ikoyi Club, Seven-Up secondary school tennis

A total of 240 students drawn from secondary schools in Lagos will participate in the maiden Ikoyi Club, Seven Up secondary school lawn tennis competition.

It is part of the Tennis section of Ikoyi Club plans in promoting lawn tennis game in Nigeria.

The championship, which will be open to boys and girls of senior and junior categories of various secondary schools between the ages of 10-15years, will run from December 10-15th at the club’s court in Ikoyi.

Interested schools are expected to register their players and officials on the organiser’s website.

Speaking in Lagos yesterday, Chairman Tennis Section, Ikoyi Club, Mr. Abimbola Okubena disclosed that the idea was borne out of the club’s drive to encourage tennis as a healthy sport among teenagers in Nigeria. Building an emotional connection with the students and by extension to their parent and schools.

He added that it would influence positive attitude and drive clear understanding of how the game is played.  It is also to inspire young boys and girls to aspire to play the game at an advanced stage, which will surely up the development of the game in Nigeria.
 
Okubena said that, there will be follow up after the competition on students that are interested in playing the game with various sessions with professional players that will tutor the younger players.

In his comment Seven-Up Bottling Company, Senior Brands Manager, Mr. Segun Ogunleye stated that SBC was keen at growing the greener feature of the country especially for youth. The tennis competitions offers that opportunity to showcase the idea.  

The competition will not only enhance development but further show the abundant talents in Nigeria.
 
Total of 20 students from 15 secondary schools cut across all the local government and local council development Areas in Lagos State, and 20 professional coaches are expected to participate at the maiden edition.
 
Four gold medalist will be going home with gift worth N50,000 each, while the four silver and eight bronze medalist will each be going home with gift worth  N35,000 and N15,000  respectively.