Home-schooled protégé dominates local tennis
Local tennis protégé Denzel Seetso is promising to become Botswana’s next professional tennis star. The young player’s mother Martina Seetso is ready to guide her son’s career to the highest levels in the sport. Speaking at the recently held Motor Centre Botswana Junior Open Tournament Championships in Gaborone, the doting parent said she would not rest until her son realises his dream.
Seetso believes that at the tender age of 12, her son is almost already showing strength as a player. The young Seetso is already highly rated regionally in his age group. In her opinion, Seetso said sport is no longer just entertainment and leisure but rather a decent career path that needs careful cultivation. This is the number one reason that made her pull his son out of the formal education system.
“My son loves tennis and he has goals to achieve, I will support him with everything I have, as people we need to find what we want in life and divert all our energy towards realising that dream,” she said. The young player travels a lot and his mother felt that the situation between him and a normal school would cause a rift between the two parties and in the process disrupt his career path. Seetso explained that her son is home schooled and doing exceptionally well, adding that he is set to sit for his final Primary School Leaving Examinations (PSLE) this year.
“Based on his current performance, he is most likely to pass with flying colours.” Nonetheless, Seetso is aware that sport is very unpredictable and unforeseen circumstances could end her son’s career. “We are prepared to pick up the pieces and move forward.” Moreover, Seetso said that tennis is a very costly sport. The passionate mother revealed that she has since hired a private coach for her son and expressed delight in that her son is winning most of his tournaments. “This should inspire other parents to play an active role in sport which could take tennis in Botswana to a whole new level.”
The 12 year old began playing at the age of 8 and his focused and yet boyish eyes when holding a tennis racket is proof of ambition beyond his years. The young Seetso hardly loses any international game he competes in Given the rock solid support system he receives from his family he said, “I have only one dream and that is becoming a professional tennis player,” the young player said. Seetso recently dominated the super 7 tournament in South Africa. He has since switched gears to play against challenging 14 players where he continues to dominate. The protégé has since moved on to pull upset victories against U 18 players at the recent Selibe Phikwe open championships early this year where he won a gold medal.