Team Tennis South head coach and CEO Rajeev Vijeykumar will be conducting a high performance and intermediate Tennis Camp on February 24 to 26 at the Jat Masters Tennis Academy in Kalapaluwawa Rajagiriya.
The Tennis Camp will be held for the beginners group from 8.30am to 9.30am, for intermediate and advanced groups from 9.30am to 11.30am and again from 3pm to 5pm. Vijeykumar is the former coach of Phieffer University Team, USA and has coached many national and international players and as such there is no doubt the camp is an opportunity not to be missed by tennis players.
Vijeykumar’s resume also includes a top ten ranking in India in the juniors, coaching the Phieffer University, USA team and being the head of player services for the Chennai Open. The Tennis Camp will be held in line with Jat Masters Tennis Academy CEO Sudantha Soya’s vision to raise the standard of tennis in the country by bridging Sri Lanka and India, which has had many world-ranked junior and professional players.
He believes that India is a sustainable untapped resource which is just an hour’s plane journey away. It’s easier for players to adapt and travel to India as it is not only financially variable but also embodies similar conditions to our country. Further, while most academics look elsewhere in
Asia and Europe, Soysa is convinced such regions aren’t sustainable for many reasons. “If India can have the number one junior player in the world and also the number one double pair, then India should be a breeding ground for our future stars,” he said.
Rising junior star Venuka Kitsula made a trip to India to train with Team Tennis South in early January. This was the first step taken by Jat Masters Tennis Academy to create a bridge between the two countries, and the Tennis Camp is also one such step. The Academy is also working on sending players to South India to train and compete out of Team Tennis South. Exchange
programs of this nature will be greatly beneficial for Sri Lankan tennis, the academy believes.