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MBABANE – Eswatini Tennis Association (ETA) President Derick Jele is adamant of developing tennis standards after attending his first International of Tennis Federation (ITF) Annual General Meeting held in Scotland’s capital, Glasgow.
Jele came into office in January, succeeding younger brother Maxwell Jele who is now Chief Executive Officer (CEO) for the Eswatini Olympic and Commonwealth Games Association (EOCGA). This was his first attendance of the ITF AGM. This national associations forum returns to a fully in-person meeting after being held virtually for the first time in 2020.
For Eswatini, where tennis is still at a development stage, Jele said plans were in the pipeline to have local tennis players compete in ITF competitions. He marveled at the opportunity to network with other national association’s presidents, sharing ideas that would help elevate local tennis to match international standards. “Development has been a big topic of interest for Eswatini Tennis. We are looking at working with the ITF through our ITF Development Officer Tapiwa Masunga to move Eswatini from Class C member to Class B member. Class B member will enable us to participate in the team competitions of the ITF called Davis Cup and Billie Jean King Cup. Davis Cup is a men’s team competition and Billie Jean King Cup is for women’s teams. For Eswatini Tennis to move to Class B membership we have to ensure our tennis facilities are built to ITF standards. For this we will be looking for partners to work with us and the ITF to meet required standards. We hope to attain Class B membership by 2025,” Jele said.
He highlighted that elevating Eswatini’s status to Class B would make them full members of ITF and qualify them to vote in ITF meetings, making them eligible to vote since they were currently attending as spectators and not qualified to cast their vote in any event.
“It has been so important to be here to represent Eswatini. It is through being here that ITF Board can take us serious. We have made good contacts with the officers of the ITF who are responsible for worldwide tennis development. We have also reached out to other first World Tennis Associations (WTA) and have shared our story and our ambitions.”
The ITF AGM ends today and Jele is expected to land back home on Thursday.