TuksTennis excited about emerging superstar
Management of the TuksTennis development programme are convinced they have found a future tennis superstar, but logistical problems are currently hampering the chances of success for this young girl.
Renowned TuksTennis director Kobus Botha is a frustrated man. He believes he has found the next Serena Williams of the tennis world, but her coaching has to wait.
Logistical problems prevent him to start working with the talented young girl as soon as possible.
The name of this young rising star is Mary-Love Edwards a 10-year-old girl from Nigeria, whose tennis paths recently crossed with those of TuksTennis. Serena Williams is also her hero and role model.
“I had never before met a 10-year old that is physically and psychologically as strong as Edwards. She is amazing. She can at her age already smash the ball across the court with two hands, both in a forehand drive and in backhand strokes,” Botha said this week.
“Although she was only ten years old, she recently won the Gauteng North Belgrave tournament for under-12 players. She dominated all her opponents, although she was two years younger than most of them.”
Botha said Edwards was the current u.12 and u.14 national champion in Nigeria. This means that she even beat girls four years her senior in her own country.
The only obstacle between Edwards and superstar status in ten years from now was the fact that she was not able to get the necessary professional training and exposure in her own country.
“We would really like to bring her here. She has passed all the necessary requirements to be enrolled at the TuksSport School,” said Botha.
“The problem is that she is part of a very close family and that her father has been established as her mentor.”
This meant the entire family would have to move to South Africa — and they were willing to do so because her father realised by now that his daughter had a special talent.
But before the family could move to South Africa, he needed to get a job and residence in South Africa. In Nigeria he owned his own events management company.
The father was willing to sell his business and move to South Africa if he could find employment here.
He has a National Diploma in Business Administration (2000 -2001) from the Universal College of Technology in Nigeria.
Mary-Love Edwards’ coach in Nigeria apparently had started looking for an academy in America or Spain to take her in with the help of corporate sponsors.
Botha said it will be a major blow to his own tennis programme to lose such a talented and determined player.
This was why he was hoping the Edwards-family could get the opportunity to move to South Africa for this young girl to get the opportunity she needed.
“If this can happen, the sky is the limit for this young girl. For this I will put my professional reputation at stake”, Botha told Rekord.
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