Prishtina, May 31st,2022
The Prime Minister of the Republic of Kosovo, Albin Kurti, participated in the closing of the Tennis Festival for 2022, an activity organized by the Tennis Federation and supported by the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sports.
In front of the audience, Prime Minister Kurti said that tennis is one of the most beautiful and healthy sports, both to play and to watch. “Therefore it’s a great feeling for me to see you all together and ready to play tennis,” he added.
Prime Minister Kurti reminisced that he also had played tennis and followed the former tennis stars, but said that the conditions are much better now than in the past when they used to improvise a tennis court in the “Aktashi” neighborhood.
“Physical activity and sports play a key role in the healthy and sustainable development of the new generations. “Through them, they create excellent goals and social relations, make friendships, and we take care of the physical, mental and emotional well-being of all our children”, said Prime Minister Kurti.
Speaking about the educational role of sport, he stressed that life is a series of victories and losses, and sport is the best way through which people learn to be modest when they win, and also to keep the dignity even when they lose.
Full speech of Prime Minister Kurti:
Dear children,
Honorable President of the Tennis Federation of Kosovo, Mr. Jeton Hadërgjonaj,
Honorable President of the Kosovo Olympic Committee, Mr. Ismet Krasniqi,
Honorable Minister of the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sports, Mr. Hajrulla Çeku,
Honorable Deputy Mayor of the Municipality of Prishtina, Mr. Alban Zogaj,
Dear parents and teachers,
Once again dear children,
It is a special pleasure for me to be here today among you and together to make the closing of the Tennis Festival for 2022.
Tennis is one of the most beautiful and healthy sports, both to play and to watch.
I also played tennis when I was younger, I remember that in the neighborhood “Aktashi”, in my neighborhood of childhood, tennis was introduced to us by Arben Islami, who I saw is here among us today and those were times when matches have not been played with names like these that are tonight. I remember that then Boris Becker played against Ivan Lendl, and after that we played and watched to some extent Andre Agassi with Pete Sampras, and then we lost touch somewhere, but why not go back to our middle age, because no one is old anymore and together with you, let us remember and relive that age when sport, health, youth, were together.
This activity organized by the Tennis Federation and supported by the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sports, aims to promote the sport of tennis to children of young ages and is an initiative which directly affects the mass participation in physical activity, therefore it’s a wonderful feeling for me to see you all together and ready to play tennis.
Physical activity and sports play a key role in the healthy and sustainable development of the new generations, through them they create great goals and social relationships, make friendships, and we take care of the physical, mental and emotional well-being of all of our children.
Dear parents and teachers,
Life is a series of victories and losses, and sport is the best way through which people learn how to be modest when they win, and also keep the dignity even when they lose.
Sport builds unity between people, even when they may have nothing in common other than a love for the game or the sport they play.
Therefore, together let us ensure that everyone, without ethnic or socio-economic differences, and of all ages, from the youngest to the oldest regardless of whether they live in the city or in more remote rural areas, are active in sports and enjoy and follow more sports and sporting events.
In particular, we need to help those who are poorer and who find it perhaps more difficult to discover their talent for sports, because for children who come from richer families it may be easier to discover and nurture their talent.
It is a need for each of us to make new friends, build new friendships, and spend productive time with them. These social interactions with your friends, which you will experience today, offer belonging and happiness.
I am aware that we do not have enough closed fields, as the president of the federation said earlier, but we will try to go towards that state when we can play tennis even if it rains, in the meantime today we have a nice sunny day.
And I remember back in my day, when Arben Islami and others in the ‘Aktashi’ neighborhood, improvised a field as we tried to pass from those ‘Smasher’ rackets to the ‘Fischer’, and then to the ‘Spalding’. Today the situation is much better, but of course we should not be satisfied with what we have, because we can and should do more.
I wish all of you who are here today to enjoy today’s activities and continue to engage regularly in the sport of tennis or any other sport. As an ancient proverb says “A sound mind in a sound body”.
Thank you all, and I wish you a lot of success.
Last modified: June 2, 2022