Tennis association banking on funds from gov’t

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The Antigua & Barbuda Tennis Association (ABTA) is hoping that the Ministry of Sports and by extension, the government, will come to its rescue and provide the EC $17,000 deficit required to fully cover all costs associated with the country’s participation in the Davis Cup.
This is according to General Secretary of the ABTA, Peter Quinn, who said they are currently awaiting the government’s response to the request.
“We are currently faced with a deficit which, if it’s not funded, would put us in jeopardy in terms of our absolute participation. A number of areas require funding — the tickets, accommodation and then there are uniforms,” he
said.
“The accommodations being provided by the Uruguayan tennis association only accounts for breakfast so we have to ensure that we account for lunch, dinner, stringing of rackets, visa fees. We have to pay for taxi fares, we have to pay for court time so there are lots of incidentals that right now, we don’t know where we are going to get the funding from,” he added.
The association, Quinn said, has received overwhelming support from a number of entities for which they are entirely thankful.
“Firstly, the NOC assisted us with the purchasing of the tickets and accommodation. Funding is also coming from the ITF who are subsidising the purchase of the airline tickets. We also got assistance from a corporate sponsor and let me pay commendation to Cool & Smooth, who we approached and he assisted us with much generosity,” the ABTA general secretary said.
Asked if the selected players will gain financially from their participation in the Davis Cup, Quinn said compensation was never part of the discussions, adding that representing one’s country in the Davis Cup brings much benefits.
“This is not pro bono, they are representing their country. Representing your country in a Davis Cup is a big plus for your resume,” he said.
“If you are applying for a coaching job around the world, that is recognised but apart from that benefit, is the fact they are representing their country at the very highest level. In fact, playing  the Davis Cup is a precursor to playing in the Olympics where you cannot play in the Olympic unless your country would have participated in the Davis Cup,” he added.
A four-member team, consisting of Jody Maginley, Kevin Gardner, Carlton Bedminister and Cordell Williams Jr will represent Antigua & Barbuda during the competition which is slated to serve off on July 12.
 

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