When most tennis centres are struggling to maintain the few courts they have, P.M. Murugan, an enterprising tennis promoter and coach of True Bounce Tennis Academy (TBTA), has rolled out 25 courts at his seven centres across Bengaluru East to promote the game. It is a record of sorts for a man, who started his coaching career with just one court in 2004.
“As I progressed with my training programme, I realised I had to create a mass base for the game, building proper infrastructure was of paramount necessity. So I started working at building tennis courts to the standard specifications required,” starts Murugan.
He also makes sure that his courts are maintained well. “Every day, we brush, water and hand-roll the courts. A good surface is important for good tennis. Often, you see some of the best players losing a match on account of an uneven or a badly built court,” observes Murugan.
With so many courts, True Bounce has over 225 players, training at different levels. There are close to 15 players in the age groups of 10 and 14, who “seem promising and regularly participate in tournaments,” says Murugan.
Some of the top AITA level trainees include S.B. Apoorva, Trisha Vinod, Koushika, Souvik, Harshith Rahuk and Harsha Venkatesh. The centre conducts State ranking and AITA ranking events for juniors and regularly holds in-house contests for it’s trainees. TBTA also has a staff of well-trained coaches.
True Bounce also has diversified its programme by including coaching in cricket and football. “I thought we should have other games as well, the training in cricket and football are conducted at our Malleshpalaya centre and soon we plan to introduce these games at our other centres too,” adds Murugan.
Tennis is an expensive game and many would reckon that it is out of reach for the lower section of the society. Murugan, who himself hails from a humble background, has made a conscious effort to reach out to underprivileged children.
“I reach out to the kids in their neighbourhood and schools and impart basic lessons in the game and select promising candidates for intense training sessions. This is our small contribution to the society,” adds Murugan.
Murugan also dreams of building an international standard tennis arena.
“It should have all the facilities and one that can help in producing players, who can bring laurels to the State and country,” beams the coach.
