The Guyana Table Tennis Association (GTTA) is planning to send at least two of its junior players on a training stint at a high performance training centre in China next year. This was announced by President of the GTTA, Henry Greene, during the opening ceremony of the Vitamalt National Table Tennis Championships on Saturday. Secretary of the GTTA, Godfrey Munroe, also spoke of this, emphasizing that the focus will be on the junior athletes. “We feel that for our players to move to the next level and become champions, it is of critical importance that they benefit from high level training exposure. So we are adopting a morale that other countries already have; we are investing in young players to send them to high level training in places like China”, Munroe said. “We’re looking to send the players to Chengdu, China to one of the high level training camps in the world, a lot of top world players go there.”
Munroe affirmed that at least two junior players will be attending the camp, while the Association is looking into the possibility of sending more, finances permitting. Munroe also noted that the Association has already begun to assess players to attend the venture. “We’re sending two [players], possibly more but two for sure.
We have some idea in mind of who it might constitute; we are sending the younger ones because in a couple of years it will be a good investment. It’s not that we don’t want to send the senior players, because we think that they could also benefit but at this juncture we are looking at the youngsters”, Munroe said.
However, Munroe further noted, that instead of having an official accompany the juniors, it would be more worthwhile to have a senior player along to manage the team. The players, Munroe said, are expected to participate in the training programme during one of the school holidays next year, and this may be as early as the next Easter vacation. “Given that it’s youths it’ll have to be during an out-of-school period, so it’ll be either during the Easter period or the summer vacation, but most likely it will be for the Easter. It’s going to be for a minimum of three weeks of high yield training”, Munroe said.
And to finance the venture, Munroe shared, the GTTA will be soliciting the assistance of corporate Guyana. Munroe admitted that the cost will be hefty but noted that following the recent schools competition, a number of corporate sponsors have begun to take notice of the vast talent and have indicated their interest of sponsorship. “Some sponsors have already seen some of the young talent in the schools Championships and have already made pledges. The biggest cost will be the airfare, the cheapest route would be through the US but even that would be costly.” Munroe declared.
China has long been considered as the table tennis capital of the world and continues to be the origin of most of the world’s top table tennis players, including the current male and female world champions.
