GTF needs 50,000 dollars for Davis Cup

The Ghana Tennis Federation (GTF) needs close to US$ 50,000 to enable Ghana participate in the 2015 Davis Cup competition scheduled for Cairo, Egypt.

Ghana will be represented by the senior tennis team, the Golden Rackets in the competition billed to start from October 26 with high hopes of gaining qualification from the African zone – Group 3 – to the more lucrative Euro-Africa zone.

Document sighted by the Times Sports indicates an additional 28,000 Ghana cedis component which would take care of local preparation for a total of eight players including two foreign based and three coaches.

Sources close to the GTF explained to the Times Sports that the cedi quotation would take care of local preparation which will see the team start with a non-residential camping and progress to residential camping in the latter stages.

That will see to the transportation, accommodation and feeding allowances of the players and coaches for over a period of two weeks.

Out of that amount, the GTF also hopes to acquire the needed equipment for the team.

According to the document, the federation would need to procure about four cartons of tennis balls, reels of strings, packs of grips, restringing etc.

The dollar component will take care of the trip and accommodation for the team whiles in Egypt.

According to the source, the GTF would also procure return tickets for the two yet to be named foreign based players that would join their local counterparts for the preparation and also pay for equipment and kitting grants for four players.

When contacted, Phillipina Frempong, Secretary General of the Federation confirmed there is a budget set to be presented to the Ministry of Youth and Sports (MoYS).

She told the Times Sports that the GTF is determined to stage a return to the more lucrative and competitive Euro-Africa zone that saw Ghana compete at the high level of the sport.

“We have been there before. I believe we can go back there but that will require hard work and support from the Ministry. We hope the budget will gain approval as early as possible to begin training.”

“Our team is in high spirits after winning gold at the All Africa Games. We need to prepare well to sustain that momentum and prove to all that the achievement was not a fluke.”

She urged corporate Ghana to also support government’s effort by offering sponsorship to the Federation.