The Greatest Coach (that you've never heard of.)

I was saddened to hear about the recent passing of Joseph Oyebog, Sr

. Who was he? You may ask. To be honest, until about 3 years ago, I had not heard of him myself. While surfing through a myriad of Instagram Tennis clips, I stumbled on a series of incredible videos of little children in Africa playing tennis. With military precision, they were hitting technically sound forehands and backhands, their faces lit up with joy and glee. Often, they could be heard chanting and singing in unison. What made these images even more amazing was the conditions of the courts on which they were performing. This was not a plush country club or a pristine park. The courts often improvised spaces that were created from his mother’s backyard. They run like a maize through alleys behind the homes. Court lines are drawn on concrete floors, nets ragged and torn, but this did not impede the enthusiasm of those budding young tennis players. As I researched the origins of what I was witnessing, I learned of the Oyebog Tennis Academy and its founder and leader, Joseph Oyebog Sr. Oyebog, who was an accomplished tennis player from the African nation of Cameroon. 

He was a contemporary of famed French star Yannick Noah and played for the Cameroon Davis Cup Team. After his competitive playing days were over, he would come to the United States to coach and found himself at the Nick Bollettieri Tennis Academy. His time there helped inspire his vision to create a tennis academy in his home country of Cameroon. Through his vision and hard work, he was able to help thousands of impoverished children have access to training, discipline, and hope for a better life. 

This task was difficult, and he would have to leave his family in the United States, where two of his children were top-ranked Junior players, in order to keep his dream going. Funding to keep the academy doing its good work continued to be a difficult hill to climb. Despite these challenges, Oyebog’s love of his country and the children who badly needed his love kept him on the trek. His legacy is strong, and his efforts have helped to create educational scholarships for countless numbers of these children whose lives will be changed forever. 

When I think of heroes, people like Joseph Oyebog Sr. come to my mind. A man whose passion, generosity, commitment, dedication, and love to the youth of his homeland has made a lasting legacy of the many lives he’s touched. His legacy is not just a memory, but a beacon of hope for the future. To quote one of his former players, Robert Koumetio , “Joe Oyebog took a little-known sport in Cameroon and used it to uplift hundreds of children. Today I proudly say I am an OTA pensioner and a former member of the OTA dream team. Tennis didn’t just shape our youth- it eased our integration into new societies and opened doors to opportunities we never imagined.” I really hope that one day, a future tennis champion will grasp their trophy, approach the microphone, and thank Oyebog for inspiring their dream.