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David Lambert wants to stop the flood of talented female tennis players from leaving the sport.

Bermuda loses many potential stars as they quit the tennis between the ages from 15 to 18.

That's part of the reason why International Tennis Federation (ITF) technical director John Goede is coming here.

Goede has pledged to help take Bermuda's tennis to the next level and is due to arrive on island on Sunday to begin his task.

"We have a very large number of young ladies playing tennis from the age of six up to 14 but then lose them in the 15 to 18 age group," Lambert lamented. "So hopefully John can offer new ideas on how to help our female population stay in the game."

During a nearly month-long stay, Goede will meet and conduct various courses with Bermuda Lawn Tennis Association (BLTA) members as well as the association's coaching registry in addition to working with Bermuda's elite players at all levels.

The ITF Level Two coach will also meet with the BLTA's junior development committee during his whirlwind visit, the first of its kind by an ITF technical director/tutor in nearly a decade.

BLTA president, David Lambert, believes local tennis can only benefit from Goede's expertise.

He said: "I think we stand to gain a tremendous amount of input mostly because of the fact the art of teaching tennis is changing all the time and we want to ensure that our coaches are up to date and highly certified and also ensure that the administration is right there with the rest of the countries in our zone. John is a highly certified ITF technical director who has been handpicked for Bermuda by our representative (Jeremiah).

"We have been working on this particular project for a year now and so the BLTA and ITF have been looking to have someone come in to study our programmes and meet with the board of directors to ensure that the BLTA is taking full advantage of all the opportunities and programmes and assistance that the ITF has to offer.

"We are what you call a federation which is work in progress. We are always looking for assistance, direction and opinions. We take the information that is offered to us and structure programmes to help our players be the best they can be and exploit all their talents.

"And what's healthy about this is that he is coming in just to see what we are doing. He doesn't have any pre-conceived opinions and he does know that we have good players in Bermuda so we are very much looking forward to John's arrival."

There are also plans for Goede to return to Bermuda later this year to re-assess the progress of local tennis, BLTA chief Lambert further revealed.

"It will be, as it looks, an ongoing programme throughout the year 2010 and all of this has been made possible by the Government of Bermuda who are paying for all of this," he added.

Goede runs his own tennis school in Surinam, served as assistant development officer for the ITF in the Caribbean for three years and is also a past national tennis coach of Surinam.

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