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A taste of tennis for kids

The Triangle Tennis Trust turned 25 recently. A look at some of its achievements

PHOTO: S. R. RAGHUNATHAN

ACE ADVICE Vijay Amritraj with Ramachandran (middle) and Narayanan (right)

On board a flight to Delhi 26 years ago, E.C.P. Prabhakar, former Chairman, Board of Management, YMCA and the late N.C. Krishnan were casually discussing tennis, the city's role in developing the sport and other things when Krishnan suggested, "Why not build a tennis court?" Prabhakar nodded. The two discussed the pros and cons and a proposal was finalised. The team (they later formed the Triangle Tennis Trust) — Prabhakar, Krishnan, D. S. Chinnadorai, C. N. Ramachandran, Major J. Victor and C. N. Gangadaran — met the heads of the National Council of YMCAs and the YMCA College of Physical Education. Known for its commitment to promote sports, the YMCA generously allocated the land, previously used for football tournaments, to the trust.

Recalls Prabhakar in the TTT souvenir released during the silver jubilee celebrations, "I'm glad to have met Krishnan on the flight where we happened to discuss the project."

Twenty-five years on, the TTT, with 11 courts inclusive of a synthetic one, has kept pace with the changes in the sport, and hired the best coaches in the city. Quite a few of the children trained here have gone on to make headlines at the National and International levels.

A quarter century is indeed a milestone, given the hurdles the TTT had to overcome. Recently, a modest gathering attended the silver jubilee celebrations of the trust. The man who held the crowd spellbound was former tennis star Vijay Amritraj, chief guest at the function. Vijay — he turned the first sod in 1981 — who has had a long association with the YMCA and the TTT, said, "The biggest success of the TTT has been its kids."

C. N. Ramachandran, co-chairman, founder trustee and the backbone of the trust, has seen the institution grow from scratch. The 75-year-old chartered accountant says, "We were sure what we wanted the TTT to be. We didn't want to produce Krishnans, Amritrajs or great tennis players or anything like that. Our objective was to teach children, all aged below 16, the basics of tennis and to enjoy the sport. And most important, we wanted to build character."

Ramachandran says, "The success of the TTT is largely due to the National Council of YMCAs and the YMCA College of Physical Education. Their making the land available for setting up the academy is laudable."

Fond memories

Says Ramachandran's son R. M. Narayanan, also a TTT trustee and a chartered accountant, "The atmosphere here is so good that almost all the children who have been trained or are undergoing training have only fond memories of the institution." Sponsorship is important for hosting a tournament. And Narayanan is thankful to several organisations which have come forward to extend their support. The TTT didn't stop with conducting tournaments, it went a step further and trained ball persons in different vocations through a tie up with Thakkar Bapa Vidyalaya, a vocational training institution. "Though the training programme was successful, placement was not easy to come by," says Narayanan. As the TTT is now flourishing, it is time for it to produce International champions, says Vijay Amritraj. And to achieve this, it should come up with a few intensive programmes. Vijay has offered to provide guidance in this regard. Whether the TTT will consider Vijay's suggestion (financial consideration being the major concern) is not known, but what it has done is lay a strong foundation for the future stars to realise their dreams.

K. KEERTHIVASAN

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