As part of its commitment to support the welfare of outstanding tennis players in the country, the management of the Lagos Lawn Tennis Club has extended humanitarian support for ace tennis star, Tanya Okpala.
The club handed her a cheque of N5m presented to her father Joel on Sunday, PUNCH Sports Extra reports.
The cheque was presented to the former national champion’s father at the LLTC, Lord Rumens Court, Tafewa Balewa Square in Lagos State as she is still undergoing rehabilitation in Anambra State.
Although the Anambra State Government has taken custody of the former US-based tennis star through the Ministry of Women Affairs, the LLTC also decided to donate funds for their ‘golden girl’.
The President of the LLTC, Temitope Abere, said that despite the efforts of Anambra State Governor Chukwuma Soludo and his wife, Nonye, the club also wanted to support the tennis star.
“We all know that in this day and age, five million is a lot of money to come up with especially in a club based on membership, but the issue here is, we are very sad that one of the daughters of this club got ill, so we got ourselves together and we are able to contribute some money to support the family.
“We know that Anambra State Government is doing their best too, we know that our little support is going to go a long way as well,” Abere said.
LLTC Vice President, Ladi Adekunle, added that they will keep supporting Tanya beyond this donation, “Our prayer is that Tanya will continue to get good care so that she recovers in good time and continues to do what she loves to do best, play lawn tennis. We will continue to support the Okpalas in any way we can.”
Joel Okpala thanked the club members for their donation and revealed that Tanya has started active play on the courts saying, “I am very very overwhelmed and grateful by the actions of Lagos Lawn Tennis Club. I and my family will remain grateful to every member of this club.
“They have started taking her (Tanya) to courts in Anambra to bring her back to her former self, and I believe she will recover, there is no doubt about it.”
Former VP of the Club, Ebisan Riwani believes this act should set an example saying, “I think that this sets an example for what we always want in sports administration. There must be some form of backup for the young players and even the retired players.
“Nigeria should not forget its heroes, tennis heroes tend to be forgotten, we have no structure encouraging the young and old ones. I believe what we have done today has set an example that we will not forget.”
Okpala came into the national limelight as a teenage tennis star in the 90s when at the age of 14, she became Nigeria’s number 1 in ladies’ tennis ranking.
She was a regular player at the LLTC lawns before travelling out of the country for professional exploits.
