Masunga attains top tennis qualification
Calistus Kolantsho | Friday March 13, 2020 12:22
She becomes the only local to hold such a qualification, which was formerly known as Level Three. Masunga attained the qualification in December. She did the initial course in 2018, but unfortunately she failed one module.
“I had to retake the module. The course is the highest qualification of coaching. It means I am qualified to coach high performance players. I understand and I am able to apply the training practices necessary to help high performance players technically, tactically, physically and mentally,” she said.
Masunga studied for the course in Morocco, adding that ITF does not do much training on the course. “I was fortunate to be selected to do it. At that time they were training other coaches that work at the ITF centre,” she said.
She added despite failing a module, it was not the end of the course.
“I did the retake last year when the course was held in Zimbabwe. At the moment, we do not have any other coach with the same qualifications in Botswana. In the past, some coaches did the course but they did not complete it,” she added.
Masunga said her achievement has increased the number of qualified coaches in the region. She explained that in Southern Africa there were only four coaches with the qualification before the Zimbabwe training.
She said the ITF does not hold the course very often. Masunga is overseeing the development of tennis in Southern Africa delivering the ITF development strategy. “My role is to facilitate in the area of participation, increasing the number of players, retaining players and monitor how federations in each country do that,” she said.
Masunga said her role includes finding ways of improving the performance of players.
She said most of the events that they deliver on are mostly for juniors because that is where they want to get the crop.
“We deliver those events on behalf of the ITF. I also assist Federations to seek opportunities to have more events. This year Botswana Tennis Association (BTA) has been hosting two ITF J5 events annually, but this year they added three more. That gives our players (the opportunity) to play locally and improve their rankings,” she said.
Masunga said the biggest challenge is to get associations to be self-sufficient. She said they are working on ensuring the associations are self-sufficient in delivering coaches education and performance programmes.
“Our main priority has been for National Associations to have their own training centres, which are fully functional,” she said. Meanwhile, Masunga said in the region, there has been a gap for years in terms of players coming in and being good. She said the gap could be attributed to the ITF centre relocating to Kenya and Morocco.
“The centre was a place where talented players in the region would train with each other. Since the centre relocated there has been a decline since 2013.
There is no consistence across countries. We are trying to patch that gap by strengthening training centres,” she added.