Why Play Tennis

Tennis is truly a global sport. If you play reasonable tennis it is your passport into any community. I've walked into clubs in many countries and started hitting balls with a member or a kid who were sceptical but soon very happy to arrange games, dinner invitations etc so I would become part of their club. Tennis is a wonderful GLOBAL ice-breaker. It can also help you in your career if you are a star in your company and you work for sport-minded people. The opportunities for a career involved in tennis are expanding constantly.

There are tournaments all over the country and the world for all standards. You don't have to organise a full team to go and play. Just enter and go. My daughter loves playing tournaments during most of her holidays and often we can drop her in the morning and pick her up when she phones, in the knowledge that she is in a good and safe environment. Except at higher levels, girls and boys can compete comfortably with each other. This again makes organisation of groups easier.

Playing reasonable tennis is a fantastic leveller and allows people from different backgrounds to meet and socialise in a way that they normally would not. It is also the finest major non-contact competitive sport which helps kids learn to mentally compete as well as using their bodies.

Tennis has survived a few hypes talking of its loss of popularity and each time it bounces back with new stars and new ideas. Ladies tennis I believe will stimulate the next surge of growth. Sell the sport to girls with the exciting imagery of Kournikova, Clijsters, Dokic and the Williams sisters. The boys aren't immune to them either.

Tennis is a difficult game which is its attraction. It is a challenge at any age or standard and can be embraced as mentally and physically promoting good health.

by Dave Sammel