By Lawrence Trusida, Sports Editor
Tennis Zimbabwe has started implementing a broader strategic plan that is aimed at bringing the sport back to its past glory.
Tennis used to be one of the biggest sports codes in Zimbabwe, competing with football, cricket and rugby as the country’s top sports.
However, since the turn of the millennium, tennis has fallen behind while cricket and rugby are competing with football for space.
Zimbabwe used to play against the world’s best, with former world number one, Andre Agassi having played against Wayne Black at the City Sports Centre in Harare in the 1990s, but that has long gone.
After noting the current problems, Tennis Zimbabwe has embarked on a four-year strategic plan that is expected to bring back the sport to greater heights.
“We are embarking on a four-year strategic plan that we think can bring back the sport, we have had wide consultations with all stakeholders and we are in the middle of fine-tuning it and we hope to put it into action starting January 2023 and it will run for four years with yearly reviews,” said Biggie Magarira, Tennis Zimbabwe president.
As part of the turnaround measures, Tennis Zimbabwe has appointed a new general manager, Kupakwashe Mukurumbira, who hopes to hit the ground running and bring the sport to its former glory.
“I hope to bring the sport back to its former glory, we all know how Tennis used to be in Zimbabwe, and I have put up a six-point plan to steer the sport back to its former glory and it starts with participation. Tennis has to be open and available to every Zimbabwean starting at primary schools across the country,” said Mukurumbira.
Mukurumbira has worked for the Sports and Recreation Commission before moving to the Zimbabwe Boxing and Wrestling Control Board where he served as programmes manager before joining Tennis Zimbabwe.
