On 20th February 2021, Agrichem Africa Ltd sponsored its first Lawn Tennis tournament for juniors. The event provided an opportunity to appreciate and engage the community. In attendance was Agrichem Africa Ltd Managing Director Mr. Shiraz Karmali.
The winners took home a trophy and a certificate.
Other than children getting a fun in the Lawn Tennis course, prospecting future international champions interacted freely with international coaches and fellow competitors.
The one day junior Lawn Tennis tournament held at the Oshwal Sports Complex brought together over five teams and individual players. “The competition which was divided into under 12, under 14 and under 16 brought together children from all over the country.
The event known as the Agrichem high performance open 2021 attracted junior players from the Kibera slums and Agrichem Africa Ltd sponsored them fully. “When we realised there are children in Kibera who play Lawn Tennis but may not afford, we decided to sponsor them. We paid their transport, registration fees, uniforms, lunch and court fees”, says Mr. Shiraz. Adding, “We needed to give them exposure and allow them to compete with others to know their level of play”.
Speaking to Mr. Shiraz Karmali of Agrichem Africa Ltd during the event, he promised to hold a similar tournament later in the year for seniors and heeded to calls by the organisers to sponsor a similar event next year.
Mr. Shiraz underscored the role of sports in the overall growth of the youth and promised to continue supporting the event in future. “We recognize the vital role that sports plays in the overall growth of our youth by imparting discipline and focus among the youth, we encourage the youth to continue with this positive culture,” said Mr. Shiraz. He said the company will allocate more resources to Lawn Tennis to identify and nurture talent. “We will also seek more support from other partners with similar ideologies on behalf of the organisers,” said Shiraz.
Mr. Shiraz decried that talents of youths are being wasted due to lack of sponsors to make them more competitive. He called on the government to grow sports in the county and highlighted the support that had seen emergence of talents in the tournament.
The competition was followed by an award ceremony and Mr. Shiraz commended the teams, players and their coaches for saving their time and committing their talents in order to make the day a success for junior lawn tennis players and invited guests. He acknowledged that, there is enough talent in the country recommending any company to come out and help nurture them. He appreciated the parents for allowing their children to honour the invitation to the interactive event. He commended the coaches that assisted in putting together the event citing that anything worth great ending takes a great team.
Mr. Hilary on behalf of the other coaches and organisers called on more companies to invest in Lawn Tennis. He thanked Agrichem Africa Ltd for their sponsorship. “Companies should embrace sports sponsorship investment culture as other cultures are now slowly fading and not as lucrative”, said Mr. Hilary. He added that, they should partner with Kenya open Lawn Tennis Association so as to enjoy the competitive return on their investment.