By Philip Matogo
What if a game of tennis could offer more than exercise? The Tennis Club, East Africa, founded by Martha Twesigye and her friend Annitah, is bringing people together through sport, friendship and a shared commitment to healthier living. The initiative aims to make tennis a welcoming space for physical activity, mental wellbeing and meaningful social connections.
The Tennis Club, East Africa, is an initiative that seeks to change our attitudes and waistlines with respect to mental and physical health. It began as an idea and has now germinated into a full-fledged, non-racial, multicultural effort at social integration based on the benefits of playing tennis.
It is the brainchild of Martha Twesigye and her friend Annitah, two young women whose beauty is more than skin-deep. Their inner worlds reflect possibility, health and a communitarian spirit.
“I’ve always lived an active life. I had a bike since primary school and rode it to holiday studies, church and meetups with friends. I’ve been swimming since kindergarten, and I started working out seriously in A-level. It all came naturally because it was right in front of me,” says Martha.
“The opportunity to learn tennis had also been around me for years. My uncle was a tennis coach, and his court was right in front of my mum’s workplace, but I never took the opportunity. In 2024, after university, I finally started. I fell in love with the game. That same year, my uncle suffered a stroke. It hurt, but it also gave me more reason to stick with tennis, to honour him.”
Great ideas are often fashioned in the womb of a passion for the ones we love and the life they enabled us to love. Passion projects are indeed rare in our orphaned times, but they have always been part of what makes society go.
In 1889, for instance, William Stewart Halsted, the first chief of surgery at Johns Hopkins Hospital, noticed that the harsh chemical disinfectants used in operating rooms were causing severe, painful dermatitis on the hands of his future wife, Caroline Hampton. He asked the Goodyear Rubber Company to manufacture thin rubber gloves to protect her hands, helping introduce a medical safety tool that would become standard practice.
Martha’s passion redounded to her personal wellbeing as well. She gradually saw her life being remade in the image of her chosen path.
“Along the way, I noticed how much it was changing my life, especially as a software engineer. I sit most of the day, behind a screen, with little in-person interaction. Tennis got me moving, laughing and meeting people. I realised that most people in 9-to-5 jobs probably need exactly this,” she says.
“So I decided to build a community where people like me can meet, play, laugh and stay fit, and make it a lifestyle. It’s also a place to network and meet people from different walks of life, outside the office. I talked to a friend I had been playing with for a long time, Annitah, and we kicked it off. We hope to reach greater heights.”
Martha and Annitah have started something that could become a movement born of movement, which is the best sort of movement.
Already, they have attracted interest from people across different walks of life, from diplomats to everyday Ugandans. The glue that has kept them together is the spirit of togetherness that this tennis community has fostered.
With a growing membership, we might see this community change our wider community for the better.
