Jamaican Brandon Burke, who was recently elected to the board of the female lawn tennis world governing body, Women’s Tennis Association (WTA), hopes his elevation serves as inspiration to his country.

The 27-year-old Burke, who was elected a WTA Player Board Representative Alternate as voted by the WTA Players’ Council, will be the youngest member of the current board of directors when he starts his two-year tenure in September.”

“I hope that my being elected to a position of this magnitude provides some inspiration for Jamaicans to show the opportunities that can arise through tennis and the different things that I’ve been able to do and experience along the way,” Burke told the Jamaica Observer.

“This is a huge personal achievement for me to have been elected to the WTA board. As I have said a few times now, this would have been something that I would have considered to be an amazing accomplishment at any point in my career.

“So to have this opportunity to affect change at the highest level of a sport that I love and dedicated most of my short life to is a privilege,” he said.

Burke, who is an attorney called to the bar in Ontario last year, is the chief operating officer and legal consultant for Sports Travel Experts, which develops sporting events throughout Canada and the Caribbean such as the Canadian Pickleball Series and Caribbean Cup Tennis Series.

Burke joins Iva Majoli, Michael Segal and Vanessa Webb on the players’ board engaging with Players’ Council members and the player ranking group they represent. They are responsible for assuring that the Board and WTA management are fully informed of their constituents point of view.

“When seated in September, I will be the youngest member of the current WTA Board. As the first Jamaican to have ever been elected to the Board of the WTA Tour, I look forward to showing what I can bring to the table and representing myself and Jamaica well on the global stage,” he reiterated.

The talented player, who is a six-time Jamaica Davis Cup member, rose to a junior world ranking high of 78 in the International Tennis Federation.

He also had a very good collegiate career where he was named the Freshman of the Year while representing Brown University in Rhodes Island between 2010 and 2014.

“Tennis has been an opportunity to travel the world and to see over 50 countries. It’s an opportunity to get an Ivy League education for free at Brown University. It provided the opportunity to be on a board of directors of a sport that I love,” said Burke.

Burke believes lawn tennis can fall through the cracks in Jamaica and it is important for children and parents to see people like him in these positions in order to understand what the sport can provide and where tennis can take them.

“Jamaica has made great strides recently on the international circuit. We were promoted to Group 2 in Davis Cup, which is a great achievement. We have some great players right now. Randy Phillips, who plays on the circuit and Blaise Bicknell who plays at the University of Florida and just had an amazing first season there. I have a lot of faith in these guys and I am sure they will fly our flag high and really represent us well for some years to come,” said Burke.

“In terms of the bigger picture and more long-term, it’s important to put a lot of effort into youth development and have strong developmental programmes in place,” he pointed out.

“But obviously one of the key needs and challenge there is having the funding required to do that and that’s a challenge for all sports in Jamaica, especially so at this time.

“So I am sure Tennis Jamaica has plans in place in these regards and are trying to execute these plans to the best of their ability given the current climate that we are all living in,” said Burke.

— Howard Walker