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The Politics of Tennis
By Jean H. Charles
Posted: Aug 28, 2007 01:10 UTC
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BROOKLYN, NY, U.S.A. - The US Open, after the Olympic and the World Cup is the biggest sporting event in the Universe.
The United States joyfully flexes the muscle of its management skills and proudly displays its capacity to stage an event for all to envy and to emulate.
The ground in Flushing Meadow Park is a delight for the eye, the sense, and the palate. The flower arrangements planted in May are in full bloom by the end of August.
The stadium closed during the rest of the year is span and spic for the visitors. The beautiful people in casual but chic attire walk back and forth on the campus to be seen and to see. The food in profusion although at a stiff price is a destination by itself.
Tennis is non stop, from the main stadium to the far corner of the ground, the sound of the ball being played from dawn to late at night, constitute a background noise that remind a soothing cascading spring.
It is easy to pinpoint the star athlete as she is ferry from one side to the other of the ground with a retinue of bodyguards to protect the privacy in case he or she does not want to be bothered with the autograph for admiring fans. Tennis is king, tennis is personal, and Tennis is power.
The country that manage to nurture and to produce one or two seeded tennis players can reap the benefit of a year long of bonus advertisement that is translated in revenue in tourism and in good will.
The tennis championship follows a path that bring the athlete from one continent to the other to all the corners of the globe. If it is January it must at Melbourne Park, the Australia Open, if it is it May, it must be in Paris at Roland Garros stadium and if it is June it must be London at the Wimbledon, and if it is August, the scene is in Flushing Meadow Park in the Ash Stadium at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center.
From a game that was an exclusive entertainment for the High Society, The US Open has had the good grace and the wisdom to open the gates and name the main stadium after the lone black male tennis champion athlete Arthur Ash.
This year the theme celebration will be around the courage of another champion, the black woman Althea Gibson who broke the color barrier to pioneer the Serena and the Venus Williams on the Hall of fame.
This essay is looking on how we can incite the civil society, the governments and the schools of the Caribbean to nurture and to coach young athlete in tennis skills so we can prepare the young men of tomorrow into the next Arthur Ash and the young woman into the next Althea Gibson, in so doing we will bring glory, money and excitement to the islands.
Tennis is like chess, one of those personal games where the athlete who excel can reap the benefit not only for himself but also for the country that he represents.
So far since the record has been taken in 1881, there have been only two star athletes from the Caribbean. They are Ronald Agenor from Haiti who was the quarter finalist in the French Open, seeded no 22 in the globe in 1989 and Mark Knowles from Bahamas ranked world doubles no1, who won the Australian Open in 2002.
The Caribbean area is now the beneficiary of grand magnificent stadiums (thanks to China) built for the World Cricket championship. Those stadiums can be the venue for tennis championship.
Tennis is big business, luring a championship unto your land demands infrastructure, logistics and first class accommodations. There may not be enough room left to register into the fast past circuit of championship venues but we can start promoting the junior championship for all the youngsters of the world.
Before we do that, we must create the culture of playing tennis in all the towns and all the villages of the Caribbean. The barrier is broken, tennis is no more a sport for the rich and the famous, teaching tennis skills to our youngsters is a small price to pay, for health, glory, tourism revenue for each one of the island on this side of the paradise.
Mr. Jean H. Charles Commentaries Home
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