By Eli Buenaventura
For Variety

ALTHOUGH I stayed only four days in Melbourne and mostly spent time at the Melbourne Park’s Rod Laver Arena where the finals of the 2007 Australian Ppen was held, my trip was productive and probably the best thing that ever happened in my many years of being involved in tennis
For one thing, there is nothing to compare watching a grand slam event live, particularly from the presidential box shrouded with high- profile tennis leaders around the globe. At one time, I had an opportunity to sit side by side with ITF president, Francesco Ricci Bicci and Tennis Australia head, Geoff Pollard while we were all watching the Andy Roddick and Mario Ancic’s match and the Amelia Maresmo and Lucie Safarova duel.
Outside the famous Rod Laver Arena, I had also a chance to watch a wheelchair tennis match between Ben Weeks of Australia and Stephane Houdet of France. It is amazing how these two players play the game on a wheelchair. Seeing the eventual champion, Shingo Kunieda of Japan, rolled down his wheelchair on the court and easily defeating a nationally rated 4.0 player easily, I am beginning to think to try it when I could not run anymore.
It is also interesting to see how tennis fans acknowledged relatively unknown players. They milled around in shopping and fast food areas while waiting for better-known players. This reminds me of the story of a famous Puerto Rican golfer, Chi Chi Rodriguez, who called himself as a hot dog pro. Asked about the label, Rodriguez says that every time golf fans see him finishing up, they go and buy a hot dog.
Our general membership meeting, which was the main goal of our trip, was also very fruitful. We discussed briefly the issue of citizenship requirement in the South Pacific Games. While everybody sympathized for the island nations that would be affected by this, most delegates welcomed the new ruling as long overdue. For a possible solution, one delegate suggested that athletes go and reside in an island that can give athletes passport. “The question is: Will an American athlete be willing to relinquish his citizenship in favor of another island nation’s passport.” he says.
Training of local coaches is also another important topic in the bi-annual meeting. All of us agreed that we should train local coaches. Aside from being expensive, importing coaches does not guarantee that athletes will perform better in competitions. As we all know, sports history books are replete with stories of defeated players under foreign coaches.
Also mentioned during the meeting was the gradual development of local athletes. Local tennis players should first join and dominate smaller events before they move to the next level. Competition should be step by step as pointed out by ITF president, Francesco Ricci Bicci. It is good to send tennis players off island to play, but if they are beaten 6-0,6-0, there is no reason to be there. Players should be realistic in their goals. “Otherwise, they will only get frustrated and abandoned the game for good,” the ITF president said.
Another interesting part of my trip was the administrator’s workshop that delegates attended on the third day of our meeting. We were shown a videotape of two players with two bigger balls and big rackets. The two look very normal until we were told they are both blind. This is my first time to see two blind men playing tennis. How they detected the ball? The ball rattled as it crossed over the net.
Of course, the accommodation that host Tennis Australia extended to the delegates from the Pacific Islands was great. Transportation was available from the time we arrived at the Melbourne domestic airport to the time we packed up to go home. We were given access to the presidential lounge and free passes to the presidential box at the Rod Laver Arena for three days and free trips at the trams. And our lunch and dinner were sumptuous.
I really had a wonderful time Down Under and should there be another invitation to be in Melbourne for the Australian Open, I will be grateful to accept it.