Sunday 25 February 2024
Ottawa hosts Afro Caribbean Indoor Tennis Championship
Olivia Barrett, Editorial Associate
After an action-packed, two-day tennis tournament that drew dozens of attendees, Team World was crowned the championship winner with Team East/South Africa in second and Team West/Central Africa in third.
Hosted at the Rideau Sports Centre on Feb. 24 and 25, the Ottawa Black History Month Afro Caribbean Indoor Tennis Championship aimed to promote diversity and inclusion in tennis, while making the sport more accessible and known to the Afro-Caribbean community in Ottawa.
The tournament featured four teams: Team World, Team East/ South Africa, Team West/ Central Africa and Team Americas. Each team consisted of five players, including one female player. The four teams were divided into Group A (Team East/South Africa and Team Americas) and Group B (Team West/Central Africa and Team World).
In the three championship games, Nadice from Team East Africa won against Nathalie from Team World, Patrick from Team West/Central Africa won against Mark from Team Americas and Ikenna from Team West/Central Africa won against Kevin from Team Americas.
While only one team could be deemed the championship winner, Rideau-Rockcliffe Councillor Rawlson King said, “I think you’re all winners.” He continued on to thank the players for making history by participating in the tournament, which is the first of its kind at the Rideau Sports Centre, adding that “Black history is alive 365 days of the year.”
King commended the Rideau Sports Centre and Kingsley Munu, the tournament’s organizer, for this partnership.
“We are so proud that just a few weeks ago, this facility was opened to make sure that there’s year-round tennis for people,” he said, adding that the tennis facility was historically an exclusive club until recently coming into new ownership. King highlighted the importance of the new accessibility of the space, especially because tennis has a history of being an exclusive sport.
“It’s open, it’s inclusive and that’s really important,” King said, “the fact that you’re here, the fact that you’re participating shows that we’re making progress.”
The tournament was a partnership between Ottawa Loves Tennis, a community of tennis enthusiasts in the Ottawa region, and UNILEARNAL, an organization focused on educational and cultural initiatives. Through their collaboration, the tournament aimed to pay tribute to the contributions of the Afro-Caribbean communities and gave veteran and rookie athletes a chance to showcase their skills. The tournament also featured several community sponsors, including Lenz Studio and Performance Tennisshop.
With diverse representation from across the Black community, and the world, the Ottawa Black History Month Afro Caribbean Indoor Tennis Championship emphasized the diversity in the sport and hoped to inspire more people from the community to join.
King shared this enthusiasm for the tournament, saying, “it really makes me proud that just a few weeks after this opened for everybody, that people of all diversities are taking advantage of this site.”
