Pro tennis player gives back to young stars

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Professional tennis player and the country’s top seed, Jody Maginley, recently spent time giving back to both the Antigua and Barbuda Tennis Association (ABTA) and the Halcyon Tennis Club, when he hosted a one-day clinic at the Halcyon tennis courts last Friday.
The clinic, which ran from 3:30 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. that day, catered for both boys and girls and saw a turnout of over 15 young players.
Maginley, who was part of the country’s Davis Cup team that recently participated in Costa Rica, said it is not often he gets to give back to the entities that would have molded his career and so he decided to do something special this time around.
“I was only home for one week after the Davis Cup and I just figured I would go down and work with the kids at Halcyon where I grew up and show them what tennis can do for them. I just wanted to go and play with some of the local kids. I was made aware that there was an under-12 team training and I just wanted to go and work with them. I haven’t been home very much and I just wanted to go down and give back for a little bit,” he said.
The session, he added, was not all physical as he also spent time speaking with and fielding questions from the young players.
“I told them about myself, about my education, tennis allowing me to get my education, about me playing fulltime, what tennis can do for them, the journey and after [the talk], they warmed up, I gave them some pointers from what I saw in the warm-up and then we just did a few drills and played a few fun games and they all loved it,” the player said.
Maginley, who is currently residing in the USA, now turns attention back towards his personal career while hinting he will be flying the country’s flag at an upcoming tournament.
“I play three tournaments in Canada starting next week Monday and then, I think, I will be in training for two weeks and then play CAC Games [for Antigua and Barbuda] and that’s my tentative schedule right now but, for sure, I am playing three tournaments in Canada,” he said.
The tennis association recently named a six-member national under-12 team to contest the ITF/COTECC Under-12 Team Championships in Trinidad and Tobago. The competition is scheduled to serve off on July 15 and end one week later on July 22.
Three girls, Brasha Dyer, Ariel Kelsick and Aysha Hosam along with three boys, Jaydon Marcano, Xaveek Toppin and Justyn Raeburn have all been named in the country’s team.

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