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Guyanese heads CSU Lawn Tennis Programme

Dec 21, 2010 Sports

– wants to provide opportunities for local players

By Edison Jefford

The allegory that states that when one door closes a better one opens has proven to be truth more than once in human history. Diwani Lewis’s journey to the top of Coppin State University (CSU) Lawn Tennis Programme is one revelation of such truth.
Lewis was not given the clearance from the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) to take up a scholarship offer at Morgan State University five years ago, but the missed opportunity for him was not the end of his passion for lawn tennis.
The missed scholarship chance, which would have allowed Lewis to compete, opened a door for him to take up an Assistant Coach position with Morgan State University. Lewis’s success at the Morgan State was the platform for his role at Coppin State.
“Fortunately for me, at the end of my first year at Morgan State, the feedbacks from their players were overwhelmingly positive and the Athletic Department decided to make the Assistant Coach position permanent,” Lewis recalled via the internet yesterday.
He said he was not allowed to take his scholarship because he had apparently played a high level of tennis before the Morgan State scholarship offer. However, as an Assistant Coach, Lewis was pivotal in the success of Morgan State’s lawn tennis programme.
“Through my years with the tennis programme at Morgan State, both men’s and women’s teams made it to four Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) Championships,” the brother of one of Guyana’s most dominant table tennis players, Idi Lewis, said.
Diwani graduated with a Bachelor’s Degree in Psychology this year, following which he became Head Coach at Coppin State University in Baltimore, Maryland after submitting his intent to take up the position after the post became available.
“I heard that a Head Coach position was available at the Coppin State University, so I decided to submit my resume for consideration. After a series of interviews, I was called by the Director of Athletics, who informed me that I was the best of all the candidates that were interviewed for the position,” Lewis informed, adding that he was overwhelmed. He said that now that he is Head Coach of Lawn Tennis at a Division I University, he has many different roles; one of which is to create opportunities for local players since without the help he received while in Guyana, he would not have been successful.
“Now that I’m the head tennis coach at a Division I University, I view this position as not only a means to progress as a coach, but also to provide young players in Guyana with an opportunity to excel in tennis and academics at a Division I University,” he said.
“I would like to also use this career path as a motivational factor for our young people to work to achieve academically as well as work on their training because with me being Head Coach, there are possibilities of them getting scholarships,” Lewis continued.
He said that God and a few people has been instrumental in his success and as a result, he would like to ensure that he gives back the guidance and support that was given to him. Lewis said that he is extremely grateful for the support of those who assisted him.
He singled out William Skeete, who, he said, introduced him to lawn tennis during his career as a junior; Shelly Daly, for being his mentor through the years; Bill Adams: the Adams International Tennis Academy, for giving him the chance to improve his skill.
Lewis said that the Adams Academy in Florida has prepared him for his present career. He stated that his family, especially his brother Idi and the lawn tennis community in Guyana has been one of his motivations during his preparation for his coaching career.

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