Brown eyes late-summer clay court tourney reschedule
Published:Monday | March 23, 2020 | 12:16 AM
Former national tennis player now turned tournament organiser Max Brown has guaranteed that the Max Brown Clay Court Tennis Championships will happen this year despite its recent postponement.
The tournament, which was scheduled for April 10-13 at the Swept Away Resort in Negril, was postponed because of the coronavirus pandemic.
Brown says that he is targeting a late-summer staging, which, he says, can attract more entrants, particularly young, aspiring players.
“I am thinking August, mid to late August, because I think a lot of the children will be out of school, and the college players haven’t returned to school, so it can be a bigger draw,” Brown said. “I would like to do it end of the summer, maybe early September, but for sure, it will happen this year.”
Brown said last year’s tournament had between 70 and 80 participants, and with a couple of weeks to go, the number of entrants for the tournament this year had reached 60. Brown said that main sponsor Swept Away Resort has reiterated its support for the tournament when the current health situation improves.
“They supported the decision because the resort will be closing down at the end of the next couple of weeks,” he said. “They understand and they totally support that time of year.
“It was a no-brainer for them to say whenever the world is back to normal, we will sit down with you and give you a date.”
Local sporting events and leagues have been suspended, postponed, or cancelled in response to the Government’s measures of preventing the spread of the virus, which include discouraging public gatherings and revoking event permits.