Three childhood friends, Gachie Kimathi, Nathaniel Kibinge and Abdul Camara, are bringing dreams to life with their bold initiative, Courtside Care, aimed at uplifting young, underprivileged tennis players.
Their journey together began at Nairobi’s Kenton College, where friendly matches and school tournaments sparked a passion.
They represented Kenton College in schools, Tennis Kenya and regional events.
“We met at Kenton College and have been friends since. Our love for the game solidified our friendship and we were able to represent the school in Tennis Kenya tournaments as well as East African tournaments,” Gachie said.
They, however, parted ways to to pursue their A-levels in different schools in England.
Gachie attends Bromsgrove School, Nathaniel is at Bryanston and Abdul at Millfield. But despite the distance, their love for the game is still strong.
“Each one of us participates in tennis at our schools. This keeps our love for the game, which brought us together, alive,” Gachie said.
This love for tennis, combined with a shared purpose, led them to form Courtside Care—a programme with a vision of “a racket in every hand, a dream in every mind, and the means to achieve it.”
Gachie, 17, explained the motivation behind Courtside Care:
“We believe talent shouldn’t be hindered by barriers. Many young players from underserved communities show promise. “
“We chose tennis after observing many talented players from underprivileged communities excelling in the sport. Imagine what they could achieve with coaching, equipment and support for tournaments.”
“Courtside Care is a way for us to provide underprivileged kids with tennis rackets, weekly coaching sessions and financial support to register for tournaments as well as travel assistance for players who qualify for African tournaments.”
Abdul, 18, highlighted the values that tennis instilled in them, noting that others could benefit too.
“We have seen first-hand how access to sports can shape lives. Tennis gave us discipline, confidence and community. We know there are so many young talented athletes out there who lack the resources to pursue their dreams,” Abdul said.
On October 26, they hosted the inaugural Courtside Open at Nairobi Club, marking the start of their mission.
The tournament brought together 90 players from Nairobi’s Mukuru Kwa Reuben, Zion Zone Tennis Foundation, Slum Tennis (Kibera) and Landi Mawe.
“We were targeting a total of 100 players during the tournament. 90 players turned up,which is still an incredible milestone for a first tournament,” Gachie said.
The tournament featured three categories for the under-eight boys/girls, under 10 boys/girls and U-12 boys/girls.
Hazeal Austine and Cheryl Minayo scooped top prizes in the U-12 category, Fidel Castro and Elsa Nafula in the U-10 whereas Calvin Kifude and Paloma Moraa claimed top prize in the under eight.
The event raised Sh1m, which went back into supporting the players.
“We were able to raise Sh1m from the tournament. Sh750,000 went into the education and feeding programmes for the kids, paying for their training sessions and entry charges for international tournaments. The rest was used for the expenditure of the tournament as well as buying the kids their rackets,” Gachie said.
However, their path wasn’t without hurdles.
“We lacked enough sponsors to make the tournament an even bigger success. Some corporates we approached hesitated, as this was our first event,” he said.
“Raising the funds for the tournament was such a tough order. We were relying mainly on our friends and families,” Abdul said.
They were, however, thankful to Chandarana FoodPlus and Brookside — who offered essential support with food packs.
“We want to say a big thank you to Chandarana and Brookside for coming in to sponsor us during the tournament by providing food and milk packs for the kids to take home,” Gachie said.
The trio aims to make the next tournament, in July 2025, even bigger.
They target Sh2m.
They plan to introduce entrance fees for their events and lure more sponsors, which will help boost the prize money thus attract more players.
“We have had a feel of what putting together a successful tournament entails. We are looking at making it even more competitive next year. We will have entrance fees as part of our fundraiser.”
“Some sponsors have assured us support including Nokia and Bata. With this kind of support, we will include prize money for the winners which will in turn bring in more young players to participate,” Nathaniel said.
The tournament is not just a platform for budding talents but also an avenue for standout players to secure scholarships to pursue education and tennis.
“The main aim is to develop tennis talent. But further from that we are looking at providing scholarships for the young players so they can pursue their education as they develop their tennis talent,” Nathaniel said.
With big dreams on the horizon, Gachie envisions an academy that will nurture talent further.
“In five years, we hope to
build an academy based on these
values, where young players can
grow,” he said.
