By Roselyn B. Monroyo
Variety News Staff

NORTHERN Mariana Islands Tennis Association president Eli Buenaventura will be leaving for Melbourne, Australia next week to attend the Oceania Tennis Federation’s eighth general membership meeting.
The meeting will be held on Jan. 20 and 21 in the Tennis Australia Board Room iat Melbourne Park.
Joining Buenaventura at the two-day meeting are delegates from American Samoa, Australia, the Cook Islands, Fiji, Guam, Kiribati, New Zealand, Samoa, Tonga, Tuvalu and Vanuatu.
As of last week, other OTF members, the Federated States of Micronesia, the Marshall Islands, Palau, Norfolk Islands, Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands and Nauru have yet to confirm their participation in the meeting.
OTF president Geoff Pollard of Australia will preside at the meeting and will start the event with a summary of OTF’s progress over the past season.
Other OTF officials and members of the executive committee will also have presentations during the two-day event.
Other topics to be discussed on Day 1 are Tahiti’s associate membership, amendments to the federation’s constitution and its incorporation. As of last year, OTF has only one associate member in New Caledonia.
OTF will also discuss the South Pacific Games in Samoa this year, the regulations for SPG and the South Pacific Mini Games in 2009. The Davis Cup and Fed Cup are also among the tournaments that will be discussed at the meeting.
Executive committee members John Shanon and Patrick O’Rourke will also talk about OTF’s negotiations with the Fiji Sports Council regarding the Regional Training Centre Facility.
On the second and last day, OTF will be discussing the developments on ANZ Bank Pacific Tennis Development program and tournaments for junior and senior players this year.
OTF developmental officer Dan O’Connell will be discussing the 2006 programs report, coaching and officiating courses and scholarships for 2007.
According to Buenaventura, the meetings will give NMI a chance to learn about programs, which might benefit commonwealth players.
After the meeting, delegates will be attending an OTF Administrators course at the Eden of the Park Hotel, at which most of the delegates are booked. Karen Clydesdale of Australia will be leading the course.
The venue of the meeting and the administrators course is a 20-minute walk away from the Melbourne Park’s National Tennis Centre, which is the venue of the famous Australian Open.
“We might get the rare chance to watch some of the games in the Australian Open and it will be a great experience to watch world-class players live,” Buenaventura said.
“But we’re more focused on developing the sport on the island and through this meeting and discussions, we can find ways to bring NMI tennis to the next level,” the NMITA president said.