ANGUILLA--Three international tennis coaches are currently in Anguilla assisting with Anguilla Tennis Academy’s (ATA) 24th annual summer camp. This is the second week of the camp which is being held for more than seventy children between the ages of three and seventeen.
International coaches Chris Wade, Will Agritelley, and Jason Allen arrived in Anguilla over the weekend to impart their skills and knowledge with participants during the final week of the camp.
Allen is a former ATA Executive Director and has returned for the 2019 summer camp. He is currently Manager of Wheelchair and Technical for the United States Tennis Association (USTA). He has returned to assist local coaches and to run the afternoon High Performance training session.
“It is always a pleasure to work with the children in the summer camp. I feel like I am home when I come to the ATA. For more than 24 years, the ATA has been doing a great service for the children of Anguilla. It is an honour to have been a part of the programme for many years,” Allen said.
Wade, Director of T Bar M Athletics, has been involved with the summer camp for more than 17 years and will be directing the final week of the camp. “I am pleased to see the high level of interest and enthusiasm in this year’s summer camp. The local coaches are doing an amazing job. Anguilla has a great institution for learning and developing children in the ATA. It is important that the local people continue to support the ATA and make it a centre of excellence for years to come,” he said.
Chief executive officer (CEO) and ATA President Mitchelle Lake said, “I am grateful for the continued local sponsorship over the past 24 years. The longevity and success of the ATA is attributed to the loyalty and commitment of local sponsors to our annual summer camp. It is my hope that the entire island will embrace us next year to celebrate the 25th anniversary.”
ATA’s summer camp and afterschool programme has benefitted more than 4,000 children since its inception in 1996. Additionally, more than US $1.3 million has been received in financial aid that went to 13 ATA recipients of tennis athletic scholarships. This year Kohn Richardson, one of ATA’s senior players, is the proud recipient of a tennis athletic scholarship to attend Johnson C. Smith University in Charlotte, North Carolina.
