Languages with origins from across the world were heard, and the tennis courts at the Fanie du Toit Sports Grounds at the North-West University (NWU) became a global village during the recent hosting of two junior ITF tournaments.

The upsurge in the number of tennis tournaments hosted by the NWU has been something to behold, and can be attributed to the new clay courts at the Potchefstroom Campus as well as the superlative organising and coaching team.

Coupled with that is the university’s High Performance Institute and the NWU’s Sports Village, which cater for exercise, rehabilitation and accommodation needs. All this makes the NWU the preeminent tennis destination in the country.

“We have been hosting ITF tournaments for almost twenty years and it is always a wonderful, proud moment to see some of the game’s best under 18 players on our courts. The players come from the Czech Republic, Germany, France, England, Poland, South Africa and elsewhere, and they are all full of praise for our facilities. There are few other facilities in the country that can match us, with our five clay courts, ten hard courts and two grass courts. We provide ample choices for visiting players,” says Heléne Botha, manager of tennis, netball and aquatics at the Potchefstroom Campus.

“Personally, I am very proud to be part of the NWU’s sports structure and it gives me great joy to hear the exceedingly positive comments from our visitors.”