Onitsha Country Club Pledges to Train Out of School Children on Tennis

By Ikemefuna Asika

The President of Onitsha Country Club Fegge, Onitsha South Council Area, Anietonwa Kingsley Ajulufo has said that the club will set up an accademy where they will teach out of school children and youths about the game of tennis.

He stated this when the leadership of Sports Writers Association of Nigeria (SWAN) Anambra State toured the club facilities.

” In Fegge here, there are a lot of out of school children and youths, we want to engage those of them that are interested and teach them lawn tennis because in this club, tennis is our main game.

“We are collecting names and by January 2025 we should be able to get a coach and start off” he said.

The President also disclosed that when the club’s four lawn tennis courts are ready by December, he will visit the lawn tennis national body with a view to attract competition to the club.

He noted so far, the only collaboration they had with Anambra State Government is when their facility was used for three days for the Traders Sports Competition currently going on in Anambra State.

He maintained that since he took over as the president of the club in 2023, a lot of work has been undertaking. These include renovation of the squash court, which is the oldest building in the club bringing it up to state of the arts status..

The four lawn tennis courts have received facelift, the indoor sports hall housing the gym, the snooker and table tennis was also renovated and commissioned by late Sen. Patrick Ifeanyi Uba two days before he passed on.

“Infact, what I am trying to do here since I took over in March 2023 is to show people what we are doing in this club. A lot of people don’t know that there’s a sports club here, that is the reason why I embarked on massive infrastructural development.

“A lot of things you see we’ve done here, we did it within the past one year. It has been very stressful but considering the fact that I know where I am going, that is why I have been pushing, making sure I conclude everything within the next four months.

“Infact, for the past twenty years, the club has no bus, so within my first hundred days in office, the first project I did was to get a 28 seater Coaster A/C bus. Then I also installed
solar energy facility when I observed that electricity bill was becoming so much.

” The indoor sports hall was actually started on the 29th of December 2023″ he stated.

Ajulufo noted that they have spent between eighty to one hundred million naira and are ready to spend another one hundred million as he looks forward to building a four hundred capacity sports pavilion. He pointed out also that he wants to build a miniature football stadium for younger members of the club.

SWAN members were conduct round sports facilities in club which include the indoor sports hall, the squash court, the hall of Fame and the coaster bus.

The SWAN team include Chimezie Anaso- Chairman, Ikemefuna Asika – VP South East zone, Emma Ndukuba and Marvelous Ezenwa.