New sports introduced at the Sandton Sports Club
Soccer tennis is a sport that is played with a soccer ball and a net, and players are not allowed to touch the ball with their arms or hands, but may with any other part of their body.
For the first time at George Lee Park (Sandton Sports Club), sports lovers got to enjoy the launch of the soccer-tennis game.
According to the founder and managing director of the Ball Playa Soccer Tennis Tournament at the Sandton Sports Club, the inspiration for the Ball Playa Soccer foundation came from his own experience in a soccer-loving family and having to move into a house that has a tennis court.
“We didn’t have tennis rackets or tennis balls at the time, but we did have a soccer ball. So, the most natural thing to do for us was to play soccer and tennis. Little did we know that the sport exists and is common practice in some European countries.”Chai added that, after doing his research, he found that soccer tennis was invented in the current country of the Czech Republic. It is believed that in 1922, the players of the Czech club, Slavia Prague, started playing a game called football over the rope.
“There were quite a few challenges that I faced when organising this first tournament; the biggest one was having to explain to people what soccer tennis is. We had the challenge of adapting and setting up new operating systems to run the league and tournaments once they started. We had challenges in securing the right venue.”
He highlighted that the day was a success and he hopes for a great turnout for the next tournaments as invitations and advertisements have been sent and published.
“The future of soccer tennis is really bright because we are passionate about it. We have seen and heard how much people love it. Our plans for it are big and long-term. We also aim to create a lot of new opportunities for people who need jobs and personal success.”
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