Throughout my life, I have always been involved in some form of sporting discipline – from martial arts to football, roller skating, track and field, and more. I’ve found that sport is a powerful tool for discipline and a positive way of life. If it weren’t for sport – tennis in particular, as the title of my book suggests, How Tennis Saved My Life – I wouldn’t be here today. Tennis gave me hope, passion, and the desire to win. It made me willing to work my soul off. Tennis kept me away from drugs, gangs, crime, and from becoming a child soldier.

Among the many things tennis has done for me, it has allowed me to be ambitious and competitive – traits that have led me to travel the world and do all these amazing things.

Most of the kids who weren’t involved in sports ended up in the wrong crowd. Many became gang members, child soldiers, or drug addicts. So, in 2006, with the help of Max Thompson and his dad, Phil Thompson, we formed a foundation formerly known as the Max and Sam Tennis Foundation. The name has changed over the years to the Sam Jalloh Sports Foundation, then to the Anglo African Sports Education Trust, and is now known as Motivate Africa.

Our mission is to give children the opportunity to play tennis and other sports, and to support some of them through their education by covering school fees. I believe that sports and education are the gateways to a better future for children.

Motivate Africa has reached many countries across the continent by providing equipment, financial support for players’ tournaments or school fees, coaching education, motivational presentations, organising tournaments, and presenting awards.