GTTA using downtime for strategic planning

Jun 01, 2020 Sports

Head of the GTTA; Godfrey Munroe.

The Guyana Table Tennis Association (GTTA), through its President Godfrey Munroe, has shared with Kaieteur Sport some of its ongoing and planned activities for these troubling times of the coronavirus pandemic that has seen most sporting events and training being suspended based on the guidelines of health officials.
Munroe explained that as an affiliate member of the International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF), the GTTA have been guided by their parent body, which has provided significant training, material and platforms to assist not only the GTTA but other affiliates dealing with the negative impacts of Covid-19.
The administrator further revealed that, “As a national association we believe that this time provides the opportunity to work on a few key projects for which the executive committee would not have had the time to work on in a normal environment.”
Those projects include but are not limited to:
1) Development of Selection Criteria Provision and Policy Guidelines.
2) Website Development.
3) Policy directives on coaches’ disciplinary matters and ethics.
4) Refining developmental plans at each level.
5) National team training restructuring.
6) Continued work on development of club structure.
7) Exploring equipment sponsorship arrangements for elite athletes.
8) Revenue generation planning.
In terms of athlete engagement, the GTTA are currently in the process of setting up a controlled environment in which the senior national players can train.
In addition, the association has setup options for virtual engagement between coaches and athletes that will allow athletes to benefit from virtual training activities in a structured manner. These activities will be conducted by Coaches Linden Johnson, Idi Lewis and Candacy McKenzie.
As part of the GTTA’s social responsibility, athletes at both the junior and senior levels have teamed up to create videos that use creative ways of spreading the message of covid-19 precautions.
The pandemic would’ve forced the GTTA women’s team to miss out on a historic first participation in the World Teams championships in South Korea. It was also a big blow that will miss out on hosting the 2020 Caribbean Mini and Pre Cadet Table Tennis Championships that would’ve allowed for mass participation by locals since financing travelling has always been a bug bear for the association.
Munroe concluded that the GTTA are currently awaiting the ITTF pronouncement and directives on the competitions scheduled.

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