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Coleman Crutchfield's Notes from Zambia
December 30, 2009 | Men's Tennis
Princeton sophomore tennis player Coleman Crutchfield is spending his winter break in Zambia, assisting at the College Racquet Club in the capital city of Lusaka.
Day 1: Dec. 27, 2009
I finally arrived today in Lusaka, the capital of Zambia. Caroline [Davis, on the Harvard women's tennis team] and I started at 10 a.m. in New York and close to 1 p.m. the next day we touched down in Lusaka. College Racquet Club is a youth tennis training program which has been operating for a few years in Lusaka. Its mission is to develop the game of tennis in Zambia while simultaneously acting as a development tool. Caroline and I have been sending over tennis equipment since high school, but the coaches felt it was time for us to come over and get a first hand glimpse of what was happening.
In Lusaka, the private sector owns most of the sports facilities (soccer fields, basketball courts, and tennis courts), and they are not available for the masses. This makes it impossible for children living in the townships to reap the benefits of these facilities. As one of the coaches told me at dinner, the children living in the townships have no supervision throughout the day. College Racquet Club is using tennis to give these kids structure, education, and motivation. Caroline and I hope that we can use our knowledge of the game to help College Racquet Club. Tomorrow we will be working with the kids from 9-5.
Day 2: Dec. 28, 2009
The day started at 9 a.m. with 60 kids on two cracked tennis courts with torn nets. The courts are located in a cornfield behind an elementary school. It rained in the morning for 20 minutes, but the courts were soon dry with the help of the kids, who dried the courts with branches, and the sun. From 9-12, the kids drilled and worked on technique. At noon we went to the local supermarket to buy them bread and baloney, and water for lunch. After lunch we played games with the kids from 1-4. Everyone of the kids loved the program and tennis in general. I have been playing tennis since I was 5, and I have never seen people who seem to derive so much pleasure from the game. Tomorrow I will be on the courts at 9 a.m. again.
Day 3: Dec. 29, 2009
Today I worked with the kids (about 60) on the court from 9 a.m.-4 p.m. In the morning the kids drilled and did fitness. We then bought the kids baloney and bread for lunch, and some of the kids took me down the road to try fresh Zambian mangoes. After lunch was a small tournament for the more advanced kids. The reward for the winner, a boy named Meube, was a Princeton tennis shirt. This boy is quite talented in tennis and won the tournament playing with only one shoe. Meube like most of the kids is from the Lusaka townships. Tomorrow I look forward to the drive north near the Congo border. This area is called the Copper Belt due to the abundance of copper. We have a specific site in mind where the program can be expanded to the northern part of the country.