THE Bahamas Lawn Tennis Association has started a matchplay series to jumpstart tennis play for juniors at the National Tennis Centre as competitive tournaments in The Bahamas were previously prohibited.

“The players are playing with more confidence and learning the rules of the game,” said Shayvon Clarke, who is organising the matchplay on behalf of the BLTA.

“There are players in the programme at different levels. The kids are progressing quickly as each week goes by. This is a way to keep the kids in a competitive mode during this pandemic. We look forward to seeing more kids added to the pool of players as time goes on.”

Patrick Mackey Jr and Aidan Miller were the two top players with the most matches played. President Perry Newton remarked that the matchplay is a good junior tennis initiative and thanked Clarke for her oversight of the programme. “The BLTA continues to expand programme offerings from the ‘Play Tennis’ for beginners to JTI programmes for intermediary and advanced players,” Newton said. “We would like to thank the parents, coaches and players for their involvement.”

Juniors are invited to join in at 4pm Fridays at the NTC. If you wish to be a part of this programme, please register your child by return email and Clarke will include all players in the matchplay.