Road tennis being both a community based sport and a competitive one, government intends to take it across the country for Rwandans to learn and enjoy it, Minister of Sports Aurore Munyangaju has said.

Speaking on Thursday, November 10, during an exclusive interview with The New Times, Munyangaju said the sport introduced in the country following a partnership with Barbados, is an addition to Rwanda’s outdoor entertainment.

Four locations: Kigali Heights, Kimisagara, Nyamirambo and Kabuga, are already mapped out to host the games. There is an ongoing study regarding efforts to scale up the sport to other parts of the country.

"It is very affordable and can be played by everyone and almost everywhere as far as the needed space is available,” the Minister said.

Invented in Barbados, road tennis has in the recent past gained international attention, thanks in part to its flexible rules of play.

Munyangaju urged tennis enthusiasts in the country to participate in the game.

"As a new game in Rwanda, we look forward to having Rwandans adopt and play it,” she said.

Road tennis is a variation of tennis invented in Barbados in the 1930s by primarily local working class Barbadians who could not afford to play lawn tennis.

The Caribbean island is home to household names of the sport including the godfather of road tennis Deighton ‘Pa’ Roach.

Though mainly concentrated in the island nation of Barbados, the sport was introduced to California, USA and the wider Caribbean.

It is often played on public residential roads or at schools, community centers and recreational areas around the island where most road tennis courts are located, either on asphalt or concrete pavement surfaces.