For more than three decades, the Vice-President of the UAE Tennis Association, Abdul Rahman Falaknaz, has been a tireless worker for the sport.
No doubt, tennis was seen as a sport for the expatriates here. However, over a period of time, this has evolved. And today, tennis youngsters have been bringing glory for the UAE.
Last week the association met coaches and representatives from academies and training centres in an attempt to forge a new relationship to take the sport to a new level. And a strategic partnership with Media Pro Middle East has further boosted this plan.
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Led by Shaikh Hasher Maktoum, Dubai Director of Information, and with experienced people such as Dr Abdullah Al Nuaimi, Nasser Madani, Salah Tahlak, Obaid Bushaqer, Slah Bramly and Zainab Al Ansari, the new board of directors see this moment as the start of many other innovations planned by the association for a healthier future of the sport, according to its vice-president.
GULF NEWS: How will last week's open meeting with the coaches, training centres and academies help in shifting focus on the well-being of the sport in the UAE?
ABDUL RAHMAN FALAKNAZ: Tennis is a part of the total sports fabric in the UAE. We are a family tied to the General Authority of Youth and Sports Welfare (GAYSW).
We have our own responsibilities and commitments to living up to the vision spelt out by His Highness Shaikh Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, following the UAE's maiden triumph in the Gulf Cup football. I can see the whole of sport in the UAE taking a fresh new shape according to this vision. The UAE has shone bright in the past in the realm of horse racing, powerboat racing, basketball, chess and shooting and we feel that we too can contribute in some way through tennis.
How can tennis contribute?
There was a wrong impression that tennis was only an expatriate sport here. But since the formation of the UAE Tennis Association in 1982, the sport has flourished, though a little bit more among the expats.
We now see the need to address this imbalance between the expats and our UAE players. Though it is better late than never, we have decided to involve the expats so that the locals will benefit. We have already made a start in this direction by keeping open entry for all competitions in the country. And last week's partnership is between the tennis association and everybody who is anybody in tennis, and this can only help.
How important is this partnership?
I think it is very important, especially at this point of time. Every sport has a governing body, and for tennis it is the UAE Tennis Association.
Over a period of time, things were getting a bit too relaxed where everyone was doing things in the name of tennis, but to suit their own interests, so to say. It was time for us as a governing body to intervene and forge this partnership and come to some sort of agreement within ourselves and with our tennis partners. There are a lot of academies and coaches and we needed to streamline this entire functioning so that both parties will benefit.
What has been the response from these partners?
We have calculated 87 academies in the country. Now if each of them produces two players, then we can have a fantastic base at the grassroots to ensure the smooth progression of the sport.
What is the way forward then?
We will have three more coaches - two exclusively for the juniors and one for the senior team and one physical trainer. Board member Zainab Al Ansari is very involved in the schools programme. She knows what is required to have a range of players starting from the grassroots. Talent has to be detected and then encouraged. In the past there were some tournaments exclusively for UAE nationals. But since 2004, all tournaments have been thrown open to all nationalities. To start with, there will be development centres in Dubai and Abu Dhabi with the remaining five emirates bound to follow. After this we plan to have a national team centre. Till now, we have been begging the clubs to help us out with the training of our national teams. This is a very unfortunate situation for the UAE, but hopefully, we will be in a position to address this soon, especially after the Dubai Sports City is ready. We will not only have our own training facility, but we will even shift the tennis association there.
But how do you bridge the huge gap that already exists between players? We have Omar Behroozian who is 27 and Hamad Abbas Al Janahi who is in his late teens.
Yes, I admit it is a big gap and it is not because we did not organise ourselves or try getting players. We have players in all lower age categories. The concern still is to ensure that we do not have such a huge gap. Now, we want to be seen as a consistent tennis organisation, we want to be number one and we will be the number one tennis country in the Gulf. And much of this will be due to the dedication we have within the organisation that is the new committee.
Fatma Abbas Al Janahi's achievements have been great for the sport. But when will she have the support of other girls?
We have the same problems with the girls that we've had with the boys in the past. Why is Fatma doing well? It is because her parents have seen her potential and they have backed her in every possible way. I am sure this issue of having more number of girls will be resolved once we have the new structure in place.
The ITF has laid down new concepts in the way the sport has to grow.
Yes, there is the new concept of "Tennis Tens" meant for kids from eight, nine and 10 years old. They play with softer and slower balls and smaller courts and the idea is to have fun in keeping with the ITF idea of "Play and Stay". We will ensure that these concepts are adopted at all existing academies so that our base grows in a uniform manner.
Where do the rankings fit in here?
In swimming and athletics you have timing, in football you have goals scored and conceded, in golf it is the player's handicap. Similarly, in tennis it is the rankings that mean everything.
Link: http://archive.gulfnews.com/articles/09/06/14/10322564.html
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