Tennis courts vs. ice palaces
We called the Belarus Ministry of Sports and Tourism to find out if work had already been in progress in this regard.
Official: “The situation is like this. You saw the match yesterday and apparently understood that information came right after the match. We have not received any concrete order yet.”
Aliaksandr Lukashenka’s proposal came unexpected not only for the ministry, which does not have any official statistics about the level of tennis development in the country.
Uladzimir Valchkou, who in the view of the head of the state could chair the Tennis Academy, says “it is premature to discuss this matter.” We are not interested in who is going to run the academy. We want to know how different from the existing tennis centers and sports schools it is going to be.
We decided to look for the answer in Russia, where several tennis academies are already in place.
“Our academy includes three courts. We train the children aged from 4 years old and above and the adults. Every Saturday, we have a club day for men. Every week, we also have a club day for children and women. They play each other; we also organize competitions. They also participate in the regional competitions and receive prizes (certificates).
When you graduate from school, you receive a diploma or a certificate. In our academy, it is simply for self-development of every human being…,” said a manager of a tennis academy in the Russian city of Chelyabinsk.
Thus, in the Russian understanding of these words, a tennis academy is something like a big entertainment center in possession of tennis courts. The aim of such an organization is not to raise the level of tennis sport in the country, but to make the money.
Construction of two tennis courts in Minsk, to be launched in 2008 at the initiative of Max Mirnyi, also appears to become a serious and realistic business project.
“It is natural to try to develop something in which you are a professional. Initially, we invest money into a smaller construction. Only after making profit there, we will invest into this big project.
What is it needed for? It is for tennis amateurs, both the children and the grown-ups. Definitely, we will train groups of promising kids for free, Max Mirnyi’s father Mikalaj told the European Radio for Belarus.
Tennis has always been if not for the elites but a rather expensive sport. We went to the SportMaster shop to find out how much the tennis gear is going to cost for a tennis newcomer.
“Children’s rockets cost from Br80,000 and more up to Br200,000. The rockets for the adults can be for amateurs, for professionals and club rockets, ranging in price from Br120,000 to Br600,000…The balls cost from Br12,000 to 20,000. You also need a big bag, worth of Br80,000 and more to carry your gear,” a sales attendant told our radio.
To sum up, tennis beginner is expected to spend from $280,000 up to Br1 million only for the gear, apart from training fees…
Moreover, you need to replace the balls regularly. You will not play at the court naked either…If you feel the lack of sports in your life, don’t wait for the opening of a tennis academy. You’d better sign up for swimming courses at the pool. They say it is rather more useful for your health.
Photo by photo.bymedia.net
