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HIV/AIDS messages delivered through sports

Road tennis players competing at the One Night Stand Road Tennis Invitational 2022 event. (Picture by Kiara Smith)
By Kiara Smith on Monday, 28 March, 2022 at 07:15 PM

The National HIV/AIDS Commission collaborated with the Public Sector Road Tennis Association to spread meaningful messages about the virus, particularly to the youth.

The two organizations hosted The One Night Stand Road Tennis Invitational 2022, where spectators gathered at 'Tennis Town' in Warrens Office Complex in Warrens, St. Michael to witness the competitions.

The games had three rounds titled “Quickie”, “Long Love” and “Safe Multiple Partners”.

Public Relations Officer of the National HIV/AIDS Commission, Fabian Todd, said: "The tournament was conceptualized by Tennis Town and the unique names given to the matches played sought to incorporate positive HIV messaging during the tournament".

Allan Parris, one of the persons who contributed to the concepts of the competition's themes, said “quicky” was the fastest game, where the first person to receive 13 points wins.

He added that “long love” depicts that persons must have a long love condom to prevent the spread of aids, while the third game “safe multiple partners” signifies that having sexual relations with various partners is a one of the main ways of contracting the virus.

“What I wanted to do was to link the game and the idea so it would get across to the young people a lot easier," he explained.

The participating teams were Tennis Town, Rubis, Bartel Elite and a few individuals who were placed in the existing teams from areas such as Bush Hall, St. Michael. 

Horace Williams, one of the organizers of the event, said: “The campaign is important because it speaks to health and wellness. It also speaks to promoting HIV in that the fight is not over… you should abstain and condomize, anything like that.”

Road Tennis Player, Sherwin Bourne, said he believes that the messages were strong and younger persons who are constantly hearing them are likely to understand the concepts of HIV better.

While the HIV/AIDS messages were disseminated at the event, many road tennis players enjoyed the competition.

Bourne said it was "interesting" playing with people from different camps because "we don’t usually get to do that... so being together as one big family... seeing the different styles and techniques were on show, I believe it was a good thing having to blend it [road tennis] with the HIV group of companies".

He lauded the organizers for having the players on board to help promote the message about HIV and viewed it as "a very good thing".

Francesco Lewis, who also played at the event, said: "The message was well received. I think they promoted the HIV campaign very well. I think the organizers did a fantastic job of getting the message across.”

Meanwhile, top women’s road tennis player in Barbados, Maudlyn Blunt, said she enjoyed the competition despite her reservations about both sexes playing against each other.

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