Tennis Cambodia is setting a new trend in open-stance governance by keeping the higher echelons of country’s sports administration and the tennis community fully informed of its year-round activities.

In a significant first step, an activity report covering the first seven months of this year was presented to National Olympic Committee of Cambodia secretary-general Vath Chamroeun and Ouk Sethycheat, Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports general director of sports at tennis, at Cambodia’s new head office located in the National Sports Complex.

The report, which was in the form of an hour-long slide show, highlighted the various ongoing programs and Cambodia’s Davis Cup mission to Iran, besides major tennis events unfolding in the next four months.

The other invitees to the presentation were National Sports Training Center manager Phun Sok, Tennis Cambodia’s global goodwill ambassador Hisae Arai and her sister Kiko Arai, who is the goodwill ambassador for Kep province.

“It is indeed a privilege to have the NOCC secretary-general and general director of the Education Ministry visiting our new office, which opened in April this year. I take this opportunity to thank both for their support in helping us move to this ideal location next to the tennis courts,” Tennis Cambodia secretary-general Tep Rithivit told the Post.

“We now have a new logo, a new well-equipped office and a renewed commitment to take tennis to the highest levels of excellence. Going open like this with our actions and aims is the best way to keep the trust of the higher powers and confidence of the tennis community both at home and abroad.

“We want to lead by example. We will make every effort to ensure that there is never a dull moment in tennis for anyone involved at any level,” added Tep Rithivit.

Vath Chamroeun told the Post: “Tennis Cambodia can be a role model for other federations. Grassroots development is central to our strategic plan for the future.”

Sethycheat, meanwhile, commended the federation’s junior programs and initiatives. “As part of our national drive, the Education Ministry and NOCC would like federations like tennis to nurture talent in provinces and create a strong base of players for centralised training, which we would like to strongly support,” he said.

Some of the major activities listed in the report were the inaugural Tennis 10s Festival in January, introduction of camping for junior players from other provinces by providing them tents around the National Training Center, three national junior tournaments involving six categories and a “Tennis For All” program that offered two weekly sessions on Fridays and Saturdays at the riverfront, open to people of all ages.

A coaches conference to bring uniformity of coaching methods and a JTI clinic in which national coach Braen Aneiros shared his experiences of attending an ITF organised JTI workshop in Bangkok was also discussed, along with the celebration of World Tennis Day, the smooth running of an adult tennis program and two visits to Kep of Singapore’s top player, Sarah Pang, who is also the senior executive of the Singapore Sports Council.

Another activity getting a prominent mention was the wheelchair tennis program held in Battambang during April.

The rest of the 2014 calendar of events include next week’s Tennis 10s Festival followed by the fourth National Junior Tournament, Cambodian national team’s participation in the Incheon Asian Games, ITF’s wheelchair clinic in October and three Cambodian ITF Futures tournaments held back-to-back in Phnom Penh from November 16 to December 6.