By Poloko Mokhele
The Cosmos Academy on Wednesday officially launched the summertime mini tennis tournament which will take place from Friday to Sunday next week at the Lesotho National Tennis Courts.
The Cosmos Academy is a tennis coaching and fitness institute aimed at developing young tennis players. The academy currently has forty children who pay monthly subscriptions and three coaches.
Speaking at the launch, one of co-founders Rantsane Monare indicated that, “we are here today launching this tournament because we believe we have equipped these kids well enough for them to know what a tournament is and its benefits. Through this tournament we aim to see them reaching their full potential in tennis.
“When I arrived back in the country few years back, I realised that there is a need for children to be assembled in one place and equip them in their tennis skills; that is when we joined hands with my co-founder and formed the academy.”
Lesotho Sports and Recreation Commission (LSRC) commissioner, Litšitso Motseremeli commended the Cosmos Academy, saying it has saved a lot of children from a number of issues like crime, mental health problems since their focus going forward will on be on the tennis tournament, even after.
“As LSRC we are entrusted by government to develop athletes from the grassroots and this is a relieve to us because there are a lot of children that need to be developed in this country. My dream is to one day see every athlete benefiting financially from their talent in this country,” Motseremeli said.
Giving his remarks on behalf of the sponsors, Metropolitan’s Kofo Matšaba highlighted that when Cosmos Academy approached them, “we asked them what their vision is and we learned that it aligns with what Metropolitan stands for, which is good health. We could not resist the opportunity to be part of this initiative because sports promote our well-being.”
The tournament is sponsored by Metropolitan Lesotho, Vodacom Lesotho Financial Services, The Market restaurant and Brand New Vixion.
