Tennis makes inroads in Kainantu

SCHOOL children in Kainantu had the chance to play tennis last month when the BSP regional tennis programme for schools came to town.
The programme created a lot of excitement at primary schools in the Eastern Highlands township known mostly for its rugby league.
PNG Tennis Association development officers, Michael Foo and Lavu Ivuyo, arrived on Oct 24 and worked alongside BSP Kainantu branch manager Varome Benny  on a quest to introduce tennis to the local school children as part of BSP’s nationwide tennis programme.
Benny had earlier met with the headmasters and teachers at both Kainantu Primary and Tuempinka Primary schools and prepared them in advance for the tennis activities.
The headmasters decided to make the best of this opportunity and told students there would be a break in classes during the tennis programme, so the schools could focus on tennis for the duration of the visit from PNGTA and BSP officials.
Several hundred tennis t-shirts were handed out to the school children as part of the programme and this created much excitement.
Armed with numerous tennis racquets and dozens of tennis balls Foo and Ivuyo provided students and teachers with tennis training and showed them just how much fun tennis can really be.
A total of 2,460 students and 57 teachers participated in the programme, which was hailed as a huge success and gave the schools a good understanding of tennis as a healthy outdoor activiy sthat requires minimal equipment to operate successfully.