Arum Akom, a 25-year-old tennis coach in Camberwell, South London, runs a bursary program for local children, coaches junior players aiming for a professional career, and is creating a new generation of mentors for his new initiative, Black Tennis Mentors. Tennis has been growing globally since the pandemic, and the sport is transforming, proving that its perception as a sport for the white and middle class is starting to change. The number of people playing tennis is increasing, with a 33% rise in the US between 2019 and 2022, and a 46% increase in black players.
The Lawn Tennis Association (LTA) released a report stating that the sport is becoming more gender-balanced, with 40% of players being female in the UK. Regardless, only 24% of accredited coaches are women, and only 16% of players come from a diverse ethnic background, whereas only 4% of coaches and 3% of officials fall in the same category. Akom seeks to address this imbalance by focusing on his new initiative, Black Tennis Mentors.
The Butterfly Tennis Club, in need of reflecting the diversity of its on-court community, welcomed Akom in 2020, not only for his LTA coaching qualifications, Levels 1, 2, and 3 but also for his lived experiences. Akom and his team devote two hours a day, five days a week to coaching eight-year-old Nazrah, his protege. Through this mentorship, they also put into practice their conveyor belt theory, where knowledge is passed between coach and player. This program is part of Akom’s vision of creating champions from ethnically diverse backgrounds.
Akom’s first move after joining The Butterfly Tennis Club was to establish a bursary program for children from lower socio-economic backgrounds, offering free tennis lessons after school and during holidays. He partnered with Believe & Achieve, Reece Placid’s project, to provide financial support, and bodies like the LTA and Sport England, as well as Head sportswear, provided equipment sponsorship.
Representation is vital at all levels, the grassroots and high-performance level, to inspire and create champions. At The Butterfly Tennis Club, Akom recently delivered the new Prime Video LTA Youth Girls sessions to encourage girls to play actively. Currently, his new initiative, Black Tennis Mentors, together with Jabilayh Asante, works towards creating a Black and Afro-Caribbean tennis society in North London.
Black Girls Tennis Club and the Washington Tennis Education Foundation are trailblazers, according to Akom. His efforts in the community and valuable experience won him the Game Changer in the Community award at the inaugural Tennis Black List awards in 2023. Akom believes it starts in the community, and he is working to create a diverse and proficient generation of tennis players, coaches, and officials to fulfill his vision in Black Tennis Mentors.
Furthermore, as Wimbledon takes place, Akom continues to work for change while watching his players from the players’ box one day. Until that day, one can find him at The Butterfly Tennis Club in Camberwell, pushing for diversity in the tennis industry
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