Albert McKinney holds first Junior Tennis Camp in South Eleuthera

Wemyss Bight native wants to take tennis to the next level on the island.

(South Eleuthera, The Bahamas) - Albert McKinney a businessman of Wemyss Bight, successfully launched the first ever, South Eleuthera Junior Tennis Camp in July, which ran for two weeks from July 4th to July 15th.  During that period the camp attracted 18-25 kids each day from Wemyss Bight and surrounding settlements including Deep Creek, Rock Sound, Bannerman Town, Waterford and Tarpum Bay, Mckinney shared.

Mckinney a former, tennis player says he has big plans for tennis in Eleuthera, a sport he believes the island needs. He has played the game for about 25 years while based in Nassau.  The Wemyss Bight native is now looking to pass on the passion  to the people of South Eleuthera.  “We’ve got Kevin Carey, Kevin Cooper, Charlie Rolle.  These guys are going to assist me in getting tennis to the next level in Eleuthera, and we are looking forward to it,” he stated, adding, “We are also associated with the Eleuthera Tennis Association (ETA) which is a part of the Bahamas Lawn Tennis Association (BLTA), and the BLTA is willing to assist us, but of  course we have to get started ourselves.”

He described how several years ago he teamed up with Artie Johnson (now in his 9th year) to bring the Junior Camp to Palmetto Point and said that he always wanted to include South Eleuthera.  “ When I moved back home about three years ago, I decided to do just that,”  he added.

This was his first year hosting a camp for the  kids and he deemed it to have been “quite successful” adding, “we definitely want to continue every year doing this camp.”

Campers and leaders at the first ever Junior Tennis Camp  in Wemyss Bight, South Eleuthera.

Q: What are you thinking about next year?

Ans: “I think we need to be able to get more kids involved.  We weren’t able to get to all the kids.  I had expected at least about 50 kids, but of course we have other camps that are going on, and I believe that may be the reason why we didn’t have more kids participate, as we had wanted to.”

The elected town council member, Mckinney, sees tennis as a possible avenue for kids to obtain scholarships to further develop themselves. “Playing tennis is a positive way of life...And at the least it will keep the kids out of trouble, with something active to do,”  he surmised.

One of the main problems he  has identified is the lack of facilities in the south. To overcome this, the South Eleuthera Junior Tennis Committee  has been formed and as a group will pursue means of building tennis facilities in this area. Property on the Wemyss Bight community park on the Cotton Bay road has already been earmarked for project, so the next step will be to secure funding.

The  Cotton Bay Foundation and the McNeil family, he explained, has been fundamental in enabling this  first camp to take place.  Additionally they have received some  sponsorship from the local community. More support will however be needed to take it all to the next level.

“One court would cost around $40,000 to $50,000 dollars. So we are looking at about $100,000 for two courts. (to be constructed within the next three years),” he highlighted.

“We need to get together with the Ministry of Education, because in Nassau the Government is putting in a lot of tennis facilities in different areas of the community, and I feel that they would be able to do the same thing here.  So we are looking for government support in this, definitely.”

Mr. Mckinney since moving back to Eleuthera from Nassau, where he was employed in the fuel industry has developed his own business as an LP gas operator called McKinney Gas Services which services customers from Tarpum Bay to Bannerman Town. With children grown and now in the role of grandparent he shared that the move home was overdue, saying, “Moving back was something I was looking to do for a long time.  I stayed in Nassau much longer than I wanted to.  Believe me, I am happy to be home and as it stands now, I don’t want to leave to go back to Nassau for any reason.  I’m glad to be home, and my family is all here, and we’re quite happy.”