-pledges to take table tennis places

By Tamica Garnett
Commissioner of Police Henry Greene was yesterday unanimously elected president of the Guyana Table Tennis Association (GTTA) at the Annual General Meeting (AGM) held at Zoom Inn Hotel on Croal Street.

Greene was the only candidate nominated for the position, a situation that was repeated for the posts of senior vice president and secretary.

Incumbents Harold Hopkinson and Godfrey Munroe were given a vote of confidence to continue in their respective positions by the electorate.

There will be a new junior vice president in Dr Balram Persaud and a new treasurer in Robin Hunte while the  two assistant secretaries are Deidre Edghill and Linden Johnson.

The AGM began with the report of immediate past president and Attorney-At-Law, Anil Nandalall, which was read by Arron Fraser in Nandalall’s absence.

In his report Nandalall expressed his honour at serving the GTTA for the past two years but admitted that his other commitments had impacted on his capacity to serve and to fully implement the plans he had for the GTTA.

“It was truly an honour serving the GTTA. However, business commitments and my pursuance of my profession has truly impacted my involvement and on many of the initiatives [that] I had envisioned,” Nandalall stated in his report.

He noted that for the sport to progress and be sustainable then “revenue generation planning and bigger picture thinking,” were some of the chief aspects that needed to be embraced.

He urged the new executive to “seriously address the issue of defunct members and internal bickering on frivolous issues,” and encouraged others to get involved and to stop sitting on the fence.

Nandalall’s report was followed by that of the General Secretary which summarized the proceedings of the executives of the GTTA from 2008 to the present.

Stating that he was proud that the association had thrived despite undesirable conditions which prevailed, Munroe thanked the affiliates for their support.

He conveyed the distinct impression that he believed that more could have been accomplished.

“Our association was able to accomplish tremendous achievements despite operating in adverse conditions, and I would like to sincerely thank the parents of the players and the serving executive members for their support and for the patience exemplified,” Munroe stated.

“However, it is my general thinking that a lot more can be accomplished if we are to put our shoulders to the wheel and work in a more harmonious way. The potential for the sport is tremendous,” Munroe added.

He identified the “critical” need for the association to improve on its administrative capacity, given that it is tied to sponsorship and the logical progression of the sport.

Following his election, Greene, in his first address as GTTA president, gave an insightful introduction into some of the issues that he will be attacking as the new head, establishing that on the forefront of the agenda would be the establishment of a strategic plan.

“I wish to say that us, as the new executive, should meet early, set new goals and charter our strategic plans to see us through. One of the things I had discussed before hand, hoping that I would be elected, was the strategic plan,” Greene stated.

He outlined some of the issues that he would be attacking in the strategic plan.

“National and international tournaments should be a part of our strategy for every year. Our building of table tennis in the schools and other organisations; the development of junior coaching programmes in the schools and nationally; the procurement of equipment; these should be part of our strategy for every year,” he declared.

He noted the hopes for greater extension of the sport countrywide and spoke of the need for sub-associations to be established across Guyana to assist in the alignment of the governance of the sport.

“Nationally we will be looking at the spread of table tennis countrywide and the creation of sub-associations. For some reason, table tennis does not have sub-associations.

But I will urge that we the new executive, really look at that and create sub-associations to which clubs can report and who can regularly come to meetings,” he said.

Greene stressed that the GTTA will be taking a more firm approach to the area of fundraising and conveyed that the association will not be looking to be dependant on revenue from sponsorship.

“I think it is very, very important. I don’t see us as an organisation surviving without fundraising. While the corporate community may be there to help us we have got to help ourselves, we have got to do fund-raisers,” he stated.

He thanked the affiliates and affirmed his pledge “to take tennis places.

“I thank you for your faith in me and for your support of us, and I promise you that we are going places,” Greene stated.

The first action of the new team of executives was the selection of the committee members who will be expected to serve.
Those selected were as follows; Balkissoon, Gary Pratt, Patrick Triumph, Colin France, Leona Kyte, Julian Alves, George Vyphius, Maxwell Thom, Joel Wilburg, Roy Mookram, Lisa Lewis, Jimmy Ramnarayan, Morton Blake, Owen John and Marva Patterson.