Makurdi tennis camp aims to rebuild Benue talent pipeline

A tennis camp for children aged six to 16 ran through August at the Aper Aku Stadium in Makurdi, organised by the Benue State Lawn Tennis Association as the first edition of an event named after the state governor.

The association's chairman, Victor Hemba, a former international player and a member of the Nigeria Tennis Federation board representing the North Central zone, said the camp was intended to find new players and to give those already playing structured coaching. It ran alongside a mini-competition that closed on 24 August, with coaches and resource persons attached to mentor the participants.

Hemba said the wider aim was to make Benue a centre for the sport in Nigeria, and he asked parents to allow their children take part in organised sport rather than treat it as a distraction from school. Benue has produced players who compete on the national circuit, but junior development in Nigerian tennis depends heavily on association-run camps of this kind, since few schools maintain courts or coaching staff of their own.