Canadian National Hockey League Player, Kevin Weekes (left), who is also the organiser of the Fifth Kevin Weekes Celebrity Golf Classic, in discussion with President of Barbados’ Road Tennis Federation, Philip Garner, and former Barbados road tennis champion Pierce Adamson prior to his initiation into a game of road tennis at the Nightengale Hardcourts, Black Rock.
Canada’s National Hockey League Player (NHL) Kevin Weekes, a goalie with the New Jersey Devils, got an initiation into road tennis last week, when he came up against former road tennis champion of Barbados, Pierce Adamson, at the Nightengale hard-courts in Black Rock.
He was also commended by Minister of Tourism, Richard Sealy, for staging the Fifth Annual Celebrity Charity Golf Classic here. The event has attracted a number of tourists from Canada.
Minister Sealy said he was happy the golf tournament, which ran from July 2 to 6, this year, was back in Barbados, but most importantly, that Weekes had chosen "to move around in the communities here with road tennis experts, to get a feel for that sport" while participating in "other charitable endeavors".
"The celebrity golf classic is significant on two points The Canadian market has been an area that we have placed a great deal of attention to. After some concentrated effort, since last year, we have actually seen those numbers grow in a market which had seen tremendous decline, generally. The Canadian market is up, and from that point of view, Kevin’s involvement with this golf tournament is quite timely, and then of course the whole effort of trying to boost Barbados as a golfing destination helps us, so we hope that tournament continues to grow…"
According to Mr. Sealy, participants in this year’s Kevin Weekes golf competition indicated that they would be coming back and would most likely bring with them more celebrities and other high profile individuals.
Meanwhile, Weekes, who is of Barbadian parentage, noted that a group of 60 North Americans had accompanied him here and his golf tournament had donated BDS $20,000 to the Phoenix Academy in Wildey. Stating that he looked forward to increasing that level of participation next year, he said road tennis was also "a neat opportunity for him as an athlete, playing ice hockey, to cross over and try something else".