"Tennis goes to school" - Berlin is to become the tennis capital
The former professional Markus Zoecke and entrepreneur Adam Szpyt want to bring children in Berlin to tennis through the project "Tennis Makes School".
by tennisnet.com
last edit: Apr 14, 2021, 06:00 pm
Popular sport does not have it easy in Corona times. Sports facilities remain closed, clubs are hit hard, children and young people are not allowed to pursue their favorite sport. Former tennis professional Markus Zoecke and Bett1.de founder Adam Szpyt now want to put an end to this trend and therefore launched the "Tennis Makes School" project.
"Every elementary school that joins the project receives its own red" bett1 bin "with twelve tennis rackets, four small fields including nets, 200 balls and other materials. In addition, information materials are made available with a guide to the design of the tennis sport offer", it says in a message from bett1.de . The aim is to make tennis one of the most popular sports among children and young people again in Berlin.
Half of the primary schools take part
The delivery of the equipment to the schools will begin next Monday , Zoecke told "Der Tagesspiegel" . So far, the project has evidently met with a lot of approval. "Of the 400 or so primary schools in Berlin, around 200 are taking part. There is no comparable project in schools that had 50 percent participants right from the start," said the former Davis Cup player.
The participating primary schools are also supported by trainers from the Berlin tennis clubs in the area in implementing the tennis offer. "40 of the 120 associations from the region are already there, others have asked. We have drawn up a map of which school in the catchment area is which association. The next step is now to bring the contacts together. This will be pushed so that the project lives and blooms, "said Zoecke.
Szpyt convinced of success
Berlin, where a WTA lawn tournament will take place from June 12th to 20th, 2021, is to become the tennis capital in the coming years. "As crazy as it sounds: We want to make tennis a popular sport. That won't be possible in one, two or three years and that's why our commitment is designed for decades," explained Adam Szpyt.
The entrepreneur is convinced that tennis in Berlin will experience a boom as a result of his project: "In Germany we only have soccer, soccer, soccer. How can it be that tennis has fallen behind? (...) Me think that because of our action, many children get stuck in tennis. And we still need the talents and we will get them. I'm very sure of that. "
You can read the entire interview by Markus Zoecke and Adam Szpyt here