Sport needs funding

All sports need funding but the background to our tennis court needs explaining. The court was built on Barbuda with funding from Mr Kelly of Coco Point after a campaign to provide this facility in the village, in memory of the children who were involved in the tragic minibus crash coming back from Coco Point after playing tennis there.Three of Barbuda’s young people died on that day and many others were seriously injured. Building a village court would ensure that children would never again have to go to a hotel to have this opportunity.

The model for tennis on Barbuda was inspired by the tennis programme in Anguilla where there are many young people taking part in this sport. So it has been a popular informal activity in the village for many years and has been supported by many and various interested volunteers and some funding since then. Lots of Barbudans enjoy the game, go regularly to play and the court has recently been re-surfaced since the hurricane. If you gave every child in the village a racquet and a supply of balls they would go and play by themselves. We don’t wait on Antigua  – but of course, skilled coaching in any sport would be even better.