MSLTA starts new initiatives for upcoming players


Buoyed by the success of their grassroot-level programme and having started full-fledged tennis activities across 30 districts in the state, MSLTA (Maharashtra State Lawn Tennis Association), one of the top most associations in the country, has decided to progress further and has launched some new initiatives to make the game more popular and increase competitiveness amongst Juniors.

MSLTA Executive Committee members (left to right), Rajeev Deshpande, Joint Secretary, Sunder Iyer, Hon. Secretary, Bharat Oza, President and Treasurer, Sudhir Bhiwanpurkar.

MSLTA Executive Committee members (left to right), Rajeev Deshpande, Joint Secretary, Sunder Iyer, Hon. Secretary, Bharat Oza, President and Treasurer, Sudhir Bhiwanpurkar.

 

Bharat Oza, President of MSLTA mentioned this to media persons during a meet and greet session on Saturday. “We at MSLTA have always put the players and the game above everything and now we have decided to take up some new initiatives, which included MSLTA Vision 2020 programme, Junior Tennis Leagues across different age groups apart from organizing over 150 state, national and international tournaments within the state in the coming year,” he stated. “To support these new plans, which would benefit the players and the game, we earmarked a corpus fund of one crore,” added Oza.

 

Also present at the event was MSLTA’s Hon. Secretary, Sunder Iyer; Joint Secretary, Rajeev Deshpande and Treasurer, Sudhir Bhiwanpurkar.

 

Iyer elaborating on their plans stated “We had quite a bit of with the first initiate of the MSLTA Vision Programme which was launched in 2010. About 10 players  who were picked up from the grassroot level scouting, went on to play in the Junior Grand Slams, one lad (Arjun Khade) represented India in the Davis Cup, while two girls (Aishwarya Srivastava and Rutuja Bhosale ) made it to the Indian Fed Cup team and one (Prathana Thombare) is now in Rio for the Olympics.”

 

“We could only take care of these players upto the junior stage and have not been able to achieve real success,” he said.

 

But now our focus is on ‘The Vision 2020’ program that will include over 111 players from the age group of Under-10 to men and ladies tennis players. We have created a pyramid which will encompass players from grass-root level through to high performance program. “We envisage that our Pyramid will help to create many more high ranked juniors, men’s and women’s tennis players from Maharashtra,” Iyer added.

 

The MSLTA in 2015 -2016 has also set a new record by hosting over 130 tournaments ranging from under-10 to men’s and women’s national ranking championships. MSLTA also organized international tournaments for men’s and women’s worth over $150000. This year we will be increasing the tournaments to 150 tournaments in the year and organizing tournaments worth over $200000.

 

“We will be hosting two Men’s Asian tennis Tour (ATT) events which have been promoted by the Asian tennis federation these events will be held at Khar Gymkhana and MSLTA in Mumbai in September. We will also be organizing the $50000 KPIT ATP Challenger in Pune and 4 $25000 Women’s events in Pune, Navi Mumbai and Aurangabad.   Three $10000 Women’s ITF events in Pune, Solapur and Nasik,” added Iyer.

 

Other projects of MSLTA are the Tennis Leagues for juniors and senior players from the state.

 

“The idea behind these events is to bring out the best in the junior players and help them to think like professionals at an early age. Such a league will also encourage them to put in hard work and become better players  apart from this the organizers will also be organizing workshops on various aspects of tennis, mental and physical tests which will be counted in the final performances of the teams.”

 

Six teams for the Rebound Mumbai open Junior Tennis League, a League specifically created for tennis players from Mumbai and suburbs. The league features around 90 players from the age category of under-10, under-12 and under-14. The matches will be spread over two months will be played on an all-play -all format. Top 4 teams will qualify for the semifinals; two top teams will contest the finals, while the remaining two will contest for the 3rd and the 4th spots.

 

Apart from the Competition players and tournament MSLTA is the only state in India to start INTERCLUB championships for its players over 35 years.   These events are played in three tiers first in the city , then at a regional level . The event culminates with the championship comprising 8 teams who play the event for three days with all expenses paid for. The highlight being that all players participating are insured for a period of 1 year. Last year the event was held in 24 cities across Maharashtra

 

Apart from the competitions MSLTA  is also actively involved in coaches education and up gradation  , and stared a Coaches registration initiative with over 300 registered coaches , Our senior coaches impart knowledge to the district level coaches  in  Physical Training , Training for Tennis Tens.  Diets and Hydration, racquet technology, foot care and basic healthcare

 

MSLTA is the only association in India to have a insurance programme for its coaches and markers, It is the only association to have a tie up with Golwilkar Labs to ensure discounts for coaches and players for the medical tests

 

In a bid to sensitize parents and educate them in the field of sports and to be sensitive towards their wards MSLTA also has launched a Parents Education Programs which is spearheaded by Dr Vece Paes and Bhismaraj Bam who are mentors of the MSLTA to share knowledge in tennis in. Bid for them to maintain balance with kids and ensure that they do not pressurize their wards