All inclusive table tennis plans for 2023

 By Morissa Lindsay 

As the New Year approaches, the Barbados Table Tennis Association (BTTA) executive is now focused on rebuilding, says Vice-President John Pilgrim who wants to see a greater level of commitment and participation in 2023.

Speaking during a fun day event held yesterday afternoon at the BTTA located in Nursery Drive, Constitution Road, St. Michael, Pilgrim said that accountability will be one of the key pillars going forward and encouraged everyone to play their part in pushing table tennis forward.

“I would like to see commitment, that is important. I would like to see a high level of participation by all parties. Don’t leave it up to a couple of persons to just drive tennis but all hands on deck. As the Prime Minister (Mia Mottley) would say, many hands make light work, so that particular philosophy also applies to table tennis. And of course the journey of a mile starts with the first step, so if you want to get things going you have to be committed, have a high level of participation and of course our stakeholders that provide resources to support tennis, they must be kept informed,” Pilgrim said.

Former BTTA President Dale Rudder who was succeeded by Marguerita Felix when the Annual General Meeting was held a week ago, participated in the Fun Day yesterday and was crowned champion after he defeated former national champion Chris Banfield 11-7, 11-8 and 12-10 in a competitive day of action. Table tennis veterans Lt. Col Trevor Browne, David Bowen and David Griffith also played.

During the interview with Barbados TODAY, Pilgrim also revealed that the BTTA has gotten down to business and already they have six regional table tennis activities planned during the course of the New Year starting with the Grenada Invitational which will coincide with their Independence on Tuesday, February 7th, 2023.

Pilgrim also shared some of what the newly installed BTTA executive would like to see for the growth and development of the sport locally. He also thanked former President Dale Rudder for coming out yesterday and being involved in the Fun Day. 

“Grenada is having a tournament to coincide with their Independence, so we have an invitation from their president Wayne Roberts of the Grenada Table Tennis Association, to participate in a friendly between Barbados and Grenada. So, right now we have six regional activities on the ground that are supported by all the board members along with friends and families across the Caribbean,” Pilgrim explained.

He added, “The new committee, we thought we needed to have a mission statement that would connect all the dots between the different age groups, stakeholders and interested parties. And we thought that the mission statement going forward should be to promote table tennis as the most attractive and desirable sport for persons of all ages.

“That is our mission and from there we can create strategic objectives in relation to the specific target groups. For example, we have recreational players, table tennis should be an attraction to those persons. You have persons who are national players, emerging young players, kids who we want to bring into the loop. So, we have a cadre of maybe four or five objectives that would revolve around each target group.

“Which means, for each target group we could create activities for the veterans like today’s fun day. We can have activities where the veterans can be part of a promotional event in the community centres because I am sure people like to see the older people playing, which is an encouragement to the younger persons. The idea is to have an all-inclusive programme meaning we are not only targeting top players but we are also covering persons who have a vested interest in tennis.”

A long-standing BTTA member, Pilgrim noted that table tennis is for all and going forward that is how it will be promoted saying, “Table tennis everywhere, table tennis for all and for all includes persons who might have been playing it fifty years ago, persons who want to play it, policemen and fire officers who use to have a tennis board in their domain. 

“We want to get back there and possibly even have a tournament where the firemen versus the police and give them some prizes for the most attractive shots etcetera. That is our mission, that is our vision, that is where we want to take table tennis and of course we have some very committed and qualified persons on the board who will drive table tennis to the next level despite the challenges of COVID-19.” 

morissalindsay@barbadostoday.bb