Eight tennis teams from USA, Canada, Britain, Belgium, Austria, Barbados, The Bahamas and an “International” team will be competing at Breezes Superclubs, Cable Beach for a week-long, inter-country tennis doubles tournament being put on by the International Club (IC) of The Bahamas. The event starts on Monday 14th January.
This is the second time the event has been held with Great Britain winning the first event.
The International Clubs are comprised primarily of players who have represented their country, won national titles or contributed greatly to the development of tennis. There are 40 IC organizations around the world. Their motto is “Hands across the net, friendship across the ocean”. They encourage inter-country competition for their members and also sponsor an International Junior Challenge for country teams of juniors which takes place on every continent. The winning junior teams are sponsored to a World Finals the next year. The Bahamas IC has sponsored a team in this junior event four times and will host the North American event next December. The World Finals for the juniors in 2014 will be at Wimbledon.
The tennis teams for this current senior event are made up of older experienced players who will compete in two round robin groups of four teams on the first three days, followed by a one-day break to “Enjoy The Bahamas”. The tennis concludes on Friday 18th January with a play-off between opposite numbers from each round robin group to determine final placings and the winning IC country team.
A team consists of a minimum of four men and two women players in various older age categories who play a series of men’s, ladies and mixed doubles against other nations.
The Bahamas IC President, Kit Spencer, commenting on the event, said:
“This has proved a very popular event in the IC calendar and we have attracted some strong nation teams again. These are experienced players who enjoy keeping up the competition and friendship of international tennis. We have a powerful Bahamian team in the event, including many times Davis Cup and Federation Cup players John Antonas and Dyphany Mortier.
“I would like to thank our major sponsor, SG Private Banking, for making it possible for The Bahamas IC to put on this event and contribute around 500 overnight stays to Bahamas tourism.
“In the 65 and over category I am the oldest player on our team and am looking forward to competing with some players I have known from much younger days. This event confirms that ‘Tennis is a game for life’, where many friendships can be made. We will follow the IC motto of ‘Hands across the net, friendship across the ocean’ by including a number of social events for those participating. This includes “Tea at Government House” and a special entertainment banquet with a Junkanoo rush out. We intend to show “It is better in The Bahamas” and a great destination for winter tennis.
For more information contact Kit Spencer (363-2930) or go to the International IC website www.ictennis.net Then click on The Bahamas section there and you can click through to the Doubles Event for both this year and the last event.
Captions: The photographs are of the winning team Great Britain from the last event ( in white) and The runners up Austria ( in red and white). We have a Bahamian team competing in this international event.
