10/08/2026
WHEN OPPORTUNITY DOESN’T EXIST, CREATE IT: SMU TENNIS BUILDS BEYOND THE BASELINE
What happens when you love the game, you train for the game… but there is no regular league in which to play the game?
You create one.
That is the thinking behind a growing tennis collaboration between Sefako Makgatho Health Sciences University (SMU), TUT Pretoria West and TUT eMalahleni — an initiative that is slowly becoming about far more than forehands, backhands and winning matches.
It is about creating opportunity, building relationships, developing players and using university sport as a bridge between institutions and communities.
From Friendly Matches to Something Bigger
Traditionally, the institutions have come together for mini-tournaments where players compete in singles before moving into one of the most exciting parts of the programme — mixed doubles with a difference.
Instead of simply keeping universities on opposite sides of the net, players are paired across institutions.
An SMU male player may, for example, partner with a female player from TUT, creating a team that competes against another cross-institutional pairing.
For a moment, the university badge becomes secondary.
Players have to communicate with someone new, understand a different playing style, trust a new partner and compete as one team.
And perhaps that is one of the greatest lessons sport can teach us:
You can compete with someone today and still collaborate with them tomorrow. 🤝🏾🎾
No League? Let’s Create Playing Opportunities.
Both SMU and our sister institutions face challenges regarding access to suitable tennis facilities and regular competitive league opportunities.
But development cannot happen through training alone.
Players need matches.
They need pressure.
They need to make mistakes when the score actually matters.
They need to learn how to recover after losing a point, manage emotions, communicate with a partner and make decisions under pressure.
That is why the institutions are exploring a more structured relationship where SMU, TUT Pretoria West and TUT eMalahleni can meet regularly — ideally once a month — to provide consistent playing opportunities.
Instead of waiting for perfect circumstances, we are asking:
“What can we build with what we already have?”
That is where development begins.
AD THE VISION DOESN’T STOP AT UNIVERSITY
One of the exciting possibilities is extending the benefits of this relationship beyond registered university players.
Through SMU’s relationship with Ga-Rankuwa Tennis Club, our developing young players can also benefit from exposure to the university tennis environment.
Imagine a young developing player standing next to a university student-athlete and thinking:
“One day, that could be me.”
That exposure matters.
It gives developing players opportunities to observe matches, interact with university athletes, experience different levels of competition and begin seeing sport and higher education as spaces they can aspire to enter.
This is how pathways are created.
Not only by identifying talent — but by allowing young people to see where their talent could potentially take them.
📚🎾 BOOKS AND BACKHANDS CAN EXIST TOGETHER
At SMU, we continuously advocate for the idea that our students should never have to choose between being serious about their academics and being passionate about sport.
The two can strengthen each other.
Tennis demands concentration, discipline, preparation, resilience, time management and the ability to reset quickly after making a mistake.
Sound familiar? 😅
Those are some of the same qualities required to survive university life.
A difficult test requires resilience.
A demanding academic programme requires discipline.
A missed shot requires you to reset and focus on the next point.
And sometimes both academics and tennis require you to tell yourself:
“That one is gone. Focus on the next one.” 😂🎾📚
That is why initiatives such as these are not simply about keeping students physically active.
They contribute towards developing well-rounded student-athletes who learn to manage competition, academics, relationships, responsibility and personal growth.
SPORT AS A TOOL FOR SOCIAL COHESION
Perhaps the most powerful part of this initiative is something that cannot always be measured on a scoreboard.
Relationships.
Different campuses.
Different backgrounds.
Different courses.
Different communities.
One court.
When an SMU player partners with a TUT player, when students travel to another campus, when experienced players encourage beginners, and when young players from Ga-Rankuwa are exposed to university sport, tennis becomes more than recreation.
It becomes a vehicle for social cohesion, belonging and connection.
And this is exactly the type of relationship we hope to continue establishing with our sister institutions.
📣 MAKING TENNIS VISIBLE AGAIN
There may even be an SMU student reading this right now thinking:
“Wait… SMU has tennis?” 👀😂
Exactly!
That is another reason these initiatives matter.
We want students to see tennis.
We want them to hear about tennis.
We want beginners to feel welcome enough to try tennis.
And we want our existing players to have meaningful opportunities to actually play competitive tennis, rather than spending an entire year practising without sufficient match exposure.
You don’t need to arrive with a Wimbledon trophy. 😅
Sometimes you simply need a racquet, willingness to learn and the courage to start.
🎾 THIS IS THE BIGGER PICTURE
What may look from the outside like a simple mini-tournament between SMU and TUT represents something much bigger that we are trying to establish.
A sustainable relationship between sister institutions.
One that creates regular competition.
One that gives beginners experience.
One that exposes community-based developing players to university sport.
One that promotes tennis on our campuses.
One that encourages friendships across institutions.
And importantly, one that reminds our student-athletes that academic excellence and sporting participation can form part of the same journey.
Because sometimes sport development does not begin with a massive tournament, a perfect facility or a packed stadium.
Sometimes it begins with a few institutions saying:
“We may not have everything yet — but we have players, we have passion, and we have each other. Let’s play.” 🎾💙
SMU Sport & Recreation
Developing athletes. Building relationships. Creating opportunities beyond the game.
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