Upgraded facilities to rekindle Munro’s tennis prominence

DURING THE late 1970s, Munro College had its fair share of success in the sport of tennis after claiming the then Alexander and Gibson Cups, the then Under-19 and Under-16 competitions, respectively.

After decades of non-existence, Munro College tennis is set to take off once again with the resurrection of the school’s programme, thanks to Munro old boy and former national player Robert Hale and a few of his former schoolmates.

Hale has been spearheading an initiative that has seen the rehabilitation of the three tennis courts at the institution, along with the provision of rackets, balls and a stringing machine to serve the more than 35 boys in the tennis programme at the revered institution.

Along with the equipment, the Cayman-based Hale and his wife, Monica, have been overseeing construction work which will see seating and landscaping undertaken to spruce up the facilities.

For Hale, the project was needed to keep the proud sporting tradition of tennis alive and well at the 166-year-old institution.

BEST IN THE COUNTRY

“What we hope to achieve is nothing short of Munro being the best in the country, and that is how we view things. A lot of us Munro old boys are extremely competitive, and so we believe that, when we put a programme together, we want to see Munro at the top of the heap at the end of the day.”

That programme has already begun to bear fruit with the current Munro tennis team finishing runners-up to Wolmer’s Boys’ in the national high schools’ Under-16 competition, while the Under-14 team made it to the quarter-finals where they lost out to Jamaica College.

Those achievements are remarkable, according to team coach Jordache Deuce, who has only been at the institution full-time since last year.

“Many of the boys that took part in the high schools’ championships were playing competitive tennis for the first time, and so we are looking to build on that. This initiative undertaken by Mr Hayle and his team can only help us to get better from here,” said Deuce.

The upgrade has certainly pleased the board of governors at Munro College, and their chairman Murphy Greg was on hand to observe the progress being made at the facilities.

“This gives us a really good feeling. I am a student of the ‘80s, and, then, we had the tennis courts in full motion. After a couple of decades, it went into disrepair and so we are extremely happy that Robert and his team have taken the initiative to ensure that tennis is again a prominent sport on our calendar.”