Why Clarkston never benefitted from World Hopes Training Camp?

Oct 19, 2016 Sports

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By Rawle Welch

Let me immediately open this missive by saying that while I commend the respective entities that have come forward and supported young Caribbean table tennis champion Kaysan Ninvalle’s journey to Peru to attend a World Hopes Training Camp, I personally extended congratulations to his father Steve, who is a very good friend of mine and a former colleague in the media.
This preamble is to eliminate any mistaken belief that could arise in relation to his selection to benefit from the high level training that he will be exposed to while in Peru.
Young Ninvalle rightly deserves the opportunity to improve his skills in the game, especially after his outstanding performance at the recent Caribbean Pre-Cadet Championships which was held in Jamaica where he won the Under-11 category.
I’ve known this young racquet wielder from the time he started so no one should believe that there is the slightest insinuation of resentment, but rather delight since his improvement could only serve as a positive for the sport here in Guyana.
However, my motivation for writing this article is to highlight the difficulty that some athletes face during their quest to be the best.
I would like to put forward the case of Naveah Clarkston, one of our most talented young table tennis players, who have performed with distinction over the years in her short career, but never seems to be recognised for her outstanding efforts.
Perhaps, because of her unfortunate circumstances, coming from a poor background might have been one of the reasons for her constant neglect of defensible recognition.
This young player’s achievements is so exceptional that she remains the only Guyanese to win three gold medals at the same championships which was achieved at the 2013 event that was staged right here in Guyana.
Clarkston won her medals in the Singles, Girls Doubles and Girls Team categories, but little was said about her marvelous performance.
That championship saw Guyana sweep the Girls Singles with Selenas Jackman and Abigail Martin occupying the remaining spots in that order.
This is a player who is not afraid to compete out of her age group, repeatedly doing so with a large measure of success.
Many are asking what was the difference between Ninvalle’s achievement and hers and I can tell you, they are finding it rather difficult to come up with the answers.
Why wasn’t she given a similar chance to benefit from a World Hopes Training Camp just as Ninvalle was recommended for, maybe the Guyana Table Tennis Association (GTTA) and more directly its President Godfrey Munroe has the answers?
Is it because she comes from a single parent home and has no big vioce to represent her?
Overlooking the performances of Clarkston and others is a massive disservice to the sport because it simply means that Guyana will only be able to win one or two medals due to the lack of exposure afforded the other players.
There was a period not so long ago when it appeared as though Guyana only had one or two players due to the concentrated focus on them and that defect might be the reason for the poor results we are witnessing now.
Munroe has been very prominent in helping to secure corporate and the Guyana Olympic Association support for Ninvalle, at least his consistent presence in the media seems to suggest that, so why was the same energy not exerted to solicit similar assistance for Clarkston.
Clarkston returned at the championships this year and lost a titanic battle to top seeded Trinidadian Shreya Maragh in five close sets, but again her performance was largely ignored.
Perhaps on this occasion, the media will have to share some of the blame for the low-keyed coverage of this promising racquet wielder who by now must have become frustrated by the unfair treatment.
It is very upsetting to get athletes, especially the young ones embroiled in discussions of this nature; they usually don’t understand the reason for the focus and might be inclined to accept the elucidations of those who resent being in the spotlight for their unhelpful actions, but sometimes it is unavoidable.
Many administrators profess to have their respective associations and athletes’ best interest at heart, but when their actions challenge those declarations then it is an act of duplicity.
The facts are sketchy as to why Clarkston was never presented with the opportunity to participate in a Word Hopes Training Camp, but the obligation is the GTTA to let the public know why it never materialized.
Clarkston, judging from her results, must be rated as one of the most promising junior players in the country so why isn’t she benefitting from similar programmes.
What more does she has to prove to the GTTA to win their support, her advancement could increase our chances of doing well in the future.

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