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Johannesburg - The newly appointed CEO of Tennis SA (TSA), Richard Glover, has had a busy first week in office.
Glover hit the road running soon after being introduced to his TSA staff at the association’s headquarters in Centurion.
He attended several meetings with various members of the tennis community to listen and to learn as much about the game as he could.
He embarked on a tennis club tour and visited the Atteridgeville Saulsville Tennis Association (ASTA), where he attended a spring camp at the Atteridgeville headquarters this past week.
The CEO was so impressed with the Atteridgeville facility that he joined the club as a social member. Club chair Lehlogonolo Moagi said that meeting Glover was an honour.
“We are truly blessed that Richard chose ASTA to visit, and has extended his arm to us by becoming a member of our club and engaging with our members during his visit,” Moagi said.
Accompanying Glover to Atteridgeville was one of the township’s most popular residents Mpho Makhoba, who is part of Glover’s TSA working team as assistant officiating manager.
The Atteridgeville Tennis Club in the Mbolekwa Sports Complex is named after Makhoba, who recently won the technical official of the year gong at the Gauteng Sports Awards.
“Our society is challenged by so many distractions for kids today, especially drugs,” Makhoba said.
“And our ASTA motto, ‘come play with us’, reaches out to the kids of Atteridgeville, takes them off the streets, and puts them in a healthy, fun-filled environment.”
Glover was “touched and encouraged” by the visit to Atteridgeville.
“I was overwhelmed by the enthusiasm of not only the players on the court, but by the administrators off the court who tirelessly work long hours for no compensation to keep the children of Atteridgeville busy and healthy,” Glover said.
“There is a large pool of talent at ASTA needing opportunity and exposure.
“And TSA will need to engage with Gauteng North Tennis, the local government and the city to partner with ASTA to develop this talent and introduce long-term sustainable programmes that benefit all.”
. Glover was introduced to the TSA council and new board members at the association’s annual general meeting last weekend.
A new board was elected by the 14 TSA council members, with president Gavin Crookes (KwaZulu-Natal) and vice-president Riad Davids (Boland) unopposed in their positions.
New board members include IQ Capital CEO Shaun Liebenberg, previous Imperial chief executive Hubert Brody, former tennis pro and coach Gustav Fichardt, National Treasury’s Fuad Cassim and Empext Sports Management managing director Anthony Loubser.
Japie Klaasen, Zaida Beukes and Allan Karam retained their positions on the board.
