The Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sports/National Sports Commission (NSC), in collaboration with the Guyana Table Tennis Association, got the Nursery Table Tennis Sports Academy Summer Camp underway, at the National Gymnasium, Mandela Avenue on Monday last.
The camp will conclude on August 16, 2024. It runs daily from 10:00h to 14:00h, focusing on helping players with the basic skills. For instance, helping players to be better prepared for future tournaments training and introducing students to the basic techniques of the game; discovering the skills of children (talent Identification); amusing children with sports skills; and developing habits for healthy competition.
National Table Tennis Coach Linden Johnson
The programme is targeting players 16 years and under. More than 60 players (boys and girls) will be exposed to the sport of table tennis in a fun way.
In an exclusive interview with Guyana Times Sport, National Table Tennis Coach Linden Johnson discussed the impact of the camp over the recent years.
Johnson explained, “This camp has been in progress for the last 21 years since I have been employed with the National Sports Commission, but the camp hasn’t been going on for quite a long time, but I continued this camp in 2003. The purpose of this camp is to get the best players from this camp; for example, Chelsea Edghill – she is now going to the Olympics twice and she started playing in this young camp in 2006 at the National Sports Hall. Not only Chelsea Edghill, but had some other good players like Shemar Britton, Kyle Edghill, Jonathon Van Lange, and Nigel Bryan and that was in my time from 2003. But before 2003, they had a lot of Caribbean champions, for example, Ellie Louis and Dennis France.”
He went on to expound on the areas of development the camp is focused on.
“We are looking for some new table tennis players, because we know …the players that we have presently now, discipline is one of the most important things for them and some we find not so disciplined and they become limited to the game. So, this camp is now back in progress. We try to do the fundamentals, with the players leaving here with the right fundamentals, so that if they go to join a club or want to continue playing here, they must have the right foundation, so we could build on that and make champions,” Johnson stated.
The panel of coaches includes certified International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) Level 1 and Level 2 Coaches, with participants only receiving certificates if they have an attendance of 90 per cent and higher. (Omar McKenzie)
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