12 year old Dylan Walker is thrilled to be attending the Mark Knowles Celebrity Invitational on December 15th. Dylan is a student of Central Eleuthera High School and has been playing tennis since he was 5 years old.
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Nassau, Bahamas - This year the
Mark Knowles Celebrity Tennis
Invitational (MKCTI)
organizers have added an additional
interactive experience for junior tennis players to the fun-filled
weekend activities. Certain of the country's promising juniors
, several young players
have
been selected by MKCTI organizers and the Bahamas Lawn Tennis
Association to hit a few tennis balls with the Pro players immediately following the exhibition on Saturday, December 5th at the National Tennis
Centre.
T
he Bahamas Lawn Tennis Association have announced that
the following juniors from the islands will be coming to Nassau to
watch the exhibition and play in the "Hit with the Pros" session:
1. Phillip Major - Andros
2. Julio Valdz - Grand Bahama
3. Dylan Walker - Eleuthera
Stephen Turnquest, BLTA President, said that they wanted
to include some representation from islands other than New Providence
as so often they get neglected due to travel expenses etc and he is
extremely grateful that the MKCTI is underwriting their airfares.
One of the participants comes from Eleuthera. Twelve year old Dylan
Walker is a student of Central Eleuthera High School and had this to
say about his upcoming attendance.
"Thank you for the invitation to participate in the Mark Knowles Kids
Tennis Day Camp. I am very excited to have been given the opportunity
to attend. I feel that this is an opportunity
for me to improve my performance in tennis and sharpen my skills."
"I am excited to meet Mark Knowles and his exciting group or world class pros. It means a lot to
me to be given the opportunity to come to
Nassau. On the island of Eleuthera I receive very limited play here
as there is no one to hit with except for my mom and
recently with Mr. Wesley Rolle. I rarely get the opportunity to play
in a lot of tournaments because of the expense. I feel this camp will
motivate me to achieve one of my goals of
playing tennis professionally," said young Dylan Walker who has been
playing tennis since he was 5 years old.
Traveling in from Andros is thirteen year old Philip Major. "I
am really excited to attend this years' camp. It will help me to
improve and get better in footwork and technique to better my game.
I am very grateful that i was chosen. I get to see Mark and these pros us close and
maybe get a tip or two to improve my own serve and forearm. I will be
motivated to play better tennis," said Phillip who attends North Andros
High School.
Attending from Grand Bahama is thirteen
year old Julio Valdz who attends St. George's High School and who has
been playing tennis for nine years. "It will be a great experience
seeing tennis pros play and it will give me incentive to do better.
"Mark Knowles is like the best doubles player in the world and it's
like a dream come true for me to be face-to-face with ATP top single
and doubles players," said Julio.
In Nassau, the selection process is underway with the most
promising juniors from various tennis professionals, such as Kim
O'Kelley, Robbie Isaacs and the NTC submitting their names.
It is expected that the "Hit with the Pros" session will
start at 4.30 p.m. for about 30 minutes and will give the juniors a taste
of sharing the tennis court with these legends of the game.
Mark
Knowles said that he thinks it is extremely important to encourage
junior players and to let them see close up the techniques that are
common to all the best players in the world. He said that he was
fortunate as a young child to be able to see Bjorn Borg, Vitas
Geruliatis, Fred Stolle and Rod Laver and many others when they played
in tournaments held at the Nassau Beach Hotel. Knowles said that this
certainly inspired him to try and emulate them.
Admission:
Adults $10 and
Children Free.
Tickets are NOW ON SALE at:
The National Tennis Centre
The Atlantis Tennis Centre
Village Squash Club
Lyford Cay School
H. G. Christie
Once again, the
proceeds of the event will go
to aid local children’s charities such as The Cancer Society, the Sassoon
(Bahamas) Foundation for Pediatric Heart Care, The Special Olympics, The
Association for the Physically Disabled, The Chance Foundation and the Mark
Knowles Tennis Scholarship Fund.
To date
over $400,000 has been distributed to various charities. The aim this year is to increase total donations to $500,000.
The major sponsors to date include: Atlantis Resort & Casino, Lombard Odier Darier Hentsch Private Bank & Trust;
Pictet Bank & Trust Ltd; Serenity Point, Abaco; The Balmoral; The Bahamas Ministry of Tourism; American Airlines;
The Bank of the Bahamas; Everkey Global Fund;
Templeton Global Advisors; Odyssey Aviation; H3O; TheBahamasWeekly.com; and The Ministry of Youth Sports & Culture.
About the Mark Knowles Celebrity Tennis Invitational: The
Mark Knowles Celebrity Tennis Invitational is a Charity Event hosted by
Mark. It was first held in 2001. The event is held in December at the
National Tennis Centre in Nassau (New Providence), Bahamas. The purpose
of the event is to raise money for various charities, such as The
Sassoon Pediatric Heart Foundation, The Cancer Society, The Association
of the Physically Disabled, The Childrens Emergency Hospital, The Boy
Scouts of Bahamas, The Special Olympics and scholarships for promising
junior tennis players. Visit: www.markknowlestennis.com
