Tennis is moving forward in Kep, Cambodia! The Kep tennis club, financed by the Association Sportive de Kep (Askep), is pleased to announce that Chen Lay, 17, is the new programme coach. Having spent many years training on the Kep courts, he offers daily lessons to the children, having gained his French coach’s qualification in Cambodia. Baptiste Joly has just joined us and will spend 6 months in Cambodia discovering the country and passing on his knowledge to both the children and to Chen. Together, they will coach and train the different groups of kids from the village who want to play tennis. Batiste will also manage communications with the local community and aims to create a lively atmosphere around the club which is already a real attraction in the village. He will also organize our yearly tournament which brings tennis player from all around the country and even from abroad. We would to thank Quentin Reynaud who was the previous trainer in Kep for 9 months last year. He did a great job as our first local manager coming from France and without him, many of our activities wouldn’t have been such a success. We are also so grateful to Charles Marrel who lives in Kep, who handles all the maintenance issues with the courts. He plays an important role for us, being so involved in the local activities including the French school and the tennis club. He has been incredibly helpful in the past year, creating a link between the different coaches and supporting them along the way. In a couple of month’s time we will have floodlights on both courts. It will enable us to welcome more kids and offer more evening lessons in much better conditions. Our primary objective for the 2016/2017 season is to welcome over a hundred kids each week who will participate in the lessons and then share their passion for tennis around the village and the local area.
