Coach of Nigeria Wheelchair Tennis, Frank Tarmena has expressed displeasure over the poor attention given to Wheelchair Tennis as compared to other sport.
Tarmena who is the pioneer coach of Wheelchair Tennis in Nigeria told www.aclsports.com that the performance of the athletes is hampered by the lack of standard wheelchairs.
He said unless something was done urgently, producing a home-grown world champion would be a herculean task.
“We cannot compare our equipment with the likes you have in Kenya, South Africa, U.S. or the U.K. where everything is top notch that gives the wheelchair tennis player the opportunity to be a world beater”.
He, however, commended Nigerian coaches for their efforts in trying to instill quality pragmatic training to produce the best players over the years that have made the nation proud in Africa championships.
“But to develop more talents we need to restructure our dilapidated courts and produce the kind of players that can stand anywhere in the world.’’
Tarmena who is the development officer for Wheelchair Tennis in West Africa said he brought Tennis wheelchair to Nigeria Gambia, Ghana, Cameroon and host of other through International Tennis Federation.
He lamented the poor funding of sports especially preparation for major championships.
Nigeria has participated in two Paralympics (Beijing 2008 and London 2012) and World Cups in Korea, Great Britain, and Turkey amongst others.
He said his aspiration is to see Wheelchair Tennis at the All Africa Games.
