State-of-the-art Tennis Facility for Anguilla

Anguilla’s tourism product is expected to be enhanced by the addition of a modern, state-of-the-art Tennis facility, which will be called the Anguilla Tennis Academy (ATA).

A formal agreement was signed between the project developers and the Government of Anguilla on Tuesday July 22nd, 2003 for the lease of six acres of land at Blowing Point for the construction of the facility. The agreement was signed by the Honorable Eric Reid, Minister of Sports, the Honourable Minister of Finance, Mr. Victor Banks and Mr. Mitchelle Lake, founder of the ATA.

The state of the art facility will include six lighted tennis courts, a stadium court with seating capacity for over one thousand persons and a main building with bathrooms, offices, a pro shop, conference room and lounge.

Anguilla’s summer tourism product has already benefitted greatly from the annual tennis camps which Mr. Lake has been running on the island for the past 7 years. Each year, over a 3-week period, more than one hundred children aged from five to eighteen years, participate in the program, and coaches from the USA come to Anguilla for the last week of the camp to give extra coaching and to identify potential talent on the island.

According to Mr. Lake, the idea for the Tennis Academy was born out of the growing popularity of the tennis camps and the need for more facilities to cater to the needs of the increasing number of participants. He expressed his determination to see the project through to completion, and called upon the people of Anguilla to embrace the project and play a part in making it a reality.

In speaking of the Anguilla Tennis Academy, which is scheduled to open in 2005, Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Tourism, Mr. Rodney Rey, said that the Ministry of Tourism has supported the Anguilla Tennis Academy’s project to construct a state of the art tennis facility in Anguilla. The project will greatly enhance Anguilla’s toursim plans as the destination positions itself to become a center for sports tourism. The facility is also expected to complement the proposed championship golf course and should be major attractions for year round tourism.