Organisers happy to get children’s TT going again

Three entities bonded together and teamed with the Jamaica Table Tennis Association (JTTA) on Friday at the Excelsior High School Auditorium to stage the first Prep and Primary table tennis tournament since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Held as a one-day rally, organisers used the event to rekindle the table tennis urge of the island's youths, with Portmore Missionary Prep School girls, Hillel Academy boys, Greater Portmore Primary girls, and Whitfield Primary boys capturing the respective titles.

Kira Scott of Portmore Missionary and Ajani Spencer of Belmont Primary School won the individual girls' and boys' titles, respectively.

The tournament was organised by Skills Unlimited Table Tennis Academy (SUTTA), the Kingston and St Andrew Table Tennis Association (KSATTA), and Supersonic Table Tennis Club, with the approval of the JTTA, which also provided other support.

Ingrid Graham, general secretary of SUTTA, was excited about the children being allowed to participate in the sport they love as they had not participated in a tournament since 2019.

"We decided to have a one-day rally to bring it back into the schools and to ignite it because we are coming bigger and better next season. It was exceptional. It was wonderful.

"We have had a great turnout as the kids enjoyed it, the parents, as well the coaches, and it's really nice to see all the players, all the coaches, the teachers, parents, and everybody sitting and supporting the sport," Graham said.

According to Graham, while the inability to play regularly because of COVID-19 affected some participants, the standard of play was good for this stage of the children's development.

"COVID had a great impact, but the coaches who love and have the passion for the sport they made an effort to get their players and the teams going just the same and put in as much as they could," she stated.

"To some extent, COVID affected the level of play as we had some of the athletes doing personal training, and things like that, but where some of the schools were concerned, the programmes didn't start back right away. Most schools started earlier this year or late last year.

"The quality of play is not as perfect as it should be, but we understand that this is the development stage of table tennis, so it takes time. From here, the coaches know where to revisit, how to strengthen their players, and what to do for further development," Graham added.

She stated that the successful staging of the event is stimulating plans for another one-day rally before getting back to the usual Prep and Primary Championships next year, which will return to being played on pthe compounds of articipating schools.