The ‘Volea Project’ will reach Alava schools, take to the streets and develop an international campus, possibly in Angola
After a complicated but successful year 2021 with the celebration of up to fourteen tournaments in its facilities, with a special place for the international ITF World Tennis Tour Araba endowed with 60,000 dollars in prizes, the Peña Vitoriana Tennis Club is now committed to promoting its sport from other scopes. Part of a path traveled with the promotion of women’s tennis to launch the ‘Volley Project’, with four action fronts.
«We want to reach all educational centers to attract the attention of children of early ages. Being present on the street with ‘Tennis Street’ is another action that will bring us closer to the public, something that we will also reinforce by holding conferences with renowned tennis players or ex-professionals. Perhaps the action that makes us most excited is an international campus with the aim of reaching the most disadvantaged countries and providing them with the means to practice tennis”, commented Alejandro Botella, manager of the Peña Vitoriana, in his presentation. The club works side by side with the NGO Tennis Aid, dedicated to solidarity projects with developing countries. Still unspecified, Angola could be the place where the entity from Alava would sow its tennis seed as the start of an activity with prospects for continuity. “We are committed to the project because we believe that tennis has many values to export and contribute,” said Botella.
Ball boy with Down
The link with different associations of people with disabilities, for example, the Isabel Orbe Association, may lead to something new such as the presence of ball boys with Down syndrome in future tournaments in Vitoria. “It would be something pioneering, which would mean the inclusion of people with different problems but who would have their place in tennis,” he revealed excitedly.
Since the times when Isa del Campo became a pioneer as a tennis coach and creator, the Peña Vitoriana has continued to bet on women’s rackets. The examples of the provincial champions Marta García or June Viñegra consolidate the Alto de Uleta club as a benchmark in Álava with more than 120 junior practitioners who dream of being professionals tomorrow.
