Former Davis Cup player and current ITF Expert Coach Michael-Ray Pallares recently visited the Rwanda Tennis Federation at the Stade National Amahoro in Kigali. His foundation, One Love Tennis, a non-profit organization based out of the United States designed to reach underprivileged and low income youth through affordable tennis, education, and fitness hosted a training event for players and coaches alike the final weekend of the Genocide Memorial Tennis Tournament.
The event, held in collaboration with the Rwanda Tennis Federation, brought together ten of the top juniors in the nation who along with several national coaches had the opportunity to receive invaluable high performance training. The foundation also donated 250 tennis balls to the federation for future training sessions.
Speaking during the event, Michael-Ray Pallares, the founder of One Love Tennis said, “This was quite the experience for me. It was my first time in Rwanda and I fell in love with the country and it’s people. To be able to share some time with such respectful students and gracious coaches during the all important Genocide Memorial Tennis Tournament was a blessing.
I plan to be in close communication with the Rwanda Tennis Federation and Rwanda National Olympic and Sports Committee to assist in further developing the sport of tennis in Rwanda and to provide opportunities for the young players. They are doing a great job in growing the sport of tennis in Rwanda.”
The Tennis initiative by the former Davis Cup player has so far traveled all over the world organizing events for underprivileged and low-income youth.
Michael-Ray Pallares González is a professional tennis player from the Dominican Republic. He was a member of the Dominican Republic Davis Cup team and represented his country at the Central American and Caribbean Games.
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Organizations and individuals who wish to learn more about the project can visit https://www.onelovetennis.org/ .
