COMMUNICATIONS giants Cable and Wireless Jamaica Limited (C&W) continued to show its commitment to the development of local tennis with the first local tennis scholarship, valued at almost $1 million.

Nineteen-year-old Kemilia Barrett, who played a pivotal role for her Holy Childhood High when they won the schools' competition earlier this year, is the recipient of a four-year, all-tuition expenses paid award at the University of Technology (UTech).

At a brief presentation ceremony at the company's corporate offices in Kingston, Errol Miller, C&W Jamaica's vice-president of corporate communications and corporate affairs, expressed his pleasure at his company's ability to make a meaningful contribution to the national school tennis programme.

NEW DIMENSION

Also on hand was Carl Chen, first vice-president of Tennis Jamaica, who lauded C&W's decision to provide a scholarship to students participating in the national schools programme as it added a new dimension to the development of the sport in Jamaica.

Barrett is pursuing a first degree in business administration.

The scholarship, which is being provided in conjunction with Tennis Jamaica, was made available to students aged 16-24 years who were finalists in the national high schools tennis competition and who had been accepted by UTech to pursue further studies at that institution.

C&W Jamaica has been the major sponsor of the national high schools tennis competition since 1995, which has seen the number of participating schools increase from eight to just more than 60.