Ali Saidi - Tennis Project
My name is Ali Saidi, I am an ex student Capital City Academy and I am currently studying at UCL.
I love to work with young kids. I'm really passionate about the fact that a lot of young children don't have a positive way to channel their energy and I thought that if I started a tennis club I could provide that.
I heard about J49 at my university. I just happened to walk into the Voluntary Service Unit and said I would really like to start up my own tennis project and someone suggested starting a J49 project.
If it wasn't for J49 I don't think this project could have run as well as it is now. Nadia Coleman the J49 officer at UCL really helped me, sat down with me, went through everything bit by bit and that really helped me and made me feel comfortable and just made the whole running of the project a lot smoother.
I see a lot of development in many kids in many areas. I've had teachers come back to me and say that this kid was so bad before you started doing the tennis and now he is not only better at tennis its also helped him in his academic life and the way he presents himself, in the way he articulates himself.
That's what tennis has had an effect on me I didn't only gain sporting skills, it taught me how to be self disciplined and showed me that I have to work hard if I want to achieve. I think that is what I want to instil in the kids here. It's not just about them learning tennis and then just forgetting about everything else, they can apply this to all areas of their lives.
I definitely recommend J49 as an extra curricula thing to do for other university students. I think the fact that it allows you to do your own thing and then someone to guide you along that is really good because people want to feel independent and feel like they are really giving back and they can also give back to something they feel really attached to which makes a lot if difference and makes the whole experience more enjoyable.
