The?girls are getting into road tennis in a big way and their intention is to raise the profile of this indigenous sport of Barbados to a level where the guys are yet to carry it.
And the vision of Juliet Worrell and Sandrea Butcher, organisers of an upcoming all-female road tennis tournament, is to create an environment where the sport can be marketed to show that Barbados is carrying it beyond talk.
Worrell said previous attempts to advance the sport were “a lot of rhetoric”.
“People have been going overseas to showcase the art form as far as China for more than ten years and then you don’t get any [spin-offs], any feedback. [It is like] you are inviting me to your house and you don’t have a roof; you cannot entertain me.
“So we are trying to raise the awareness of the sport by bringing in women, letting them know that it is a viable [activity] and sustainable. We are going to form a club so that we can do events there and gradually get a roof [a permanent venue] because we believe that is the way to go forward,” said Worrell.
Worrell and Butcher see the staging of the first all-female tournament, which runs from tomorrow to June 14, as a step in realising their goals.
The organisers are looking to rally about 32 women, which equals 16 sets, to their cause to make the venture a knockout competition.
“This idea was conceptualised when we had a men’s and women’s tournament less than a month ago. We saw the cadre of females that came out and participated; we were impressed,” said Worrell, adding that she and Butcher pounced on the opportunity to organise the event to stimulate the interest and attention of those women.
Butcher said they hoped that the annual tournament, named the Sandra Bailey A Touch of Class Women’s Road Tennis Tournament, would attract younger women to the sport.
The tribute to Bailey underlines the impact she has had on the sport – always coming in the top three of any competition and having won more than 18 Banks Islandwide Championships.
The tournament will be played at the Deighton “Pa” Roach Road Tennis Facility, Bush Hall, St Michael.
