“Look, listen and learn”- NSC Administrator to Table-Tennis camp
By Avenash Ramzan
“Look, listen and learn.”
That’s the message Administrator of the National Sports Commission, Gervy Harry, left with the boys and girls who are part of the annual Teach Them Young Table-Tennis programme, currently underway at the National Gymnasium, Mandela Avenue.
Delivering a pep talk to the 50-odd youths at the National Gymnasium, Harry said the National Sports Commission is heartened by the response to the programme, noting that the parents must be commended for enrolling their children in the activity. He urged the youths to focus on the three L’s, as they look to gain basic knowledge on the sport.
“I don’t want you to see coming here as just a time for play, run and jump, but we are going to learn serious skills through fun. But at end of it all you must learn something about table-tennis…so you have to look, listen and learn. So in a few years time the coaches here must be able to say ‘you see that boy there and you see that girl there’ came to my class at the Gymnasium in 2017,” Harry remarked.
Harry encouraged the students to take up the sport by playing in schools and at the club level, and urged them to also have aspirations to represent the country.
He however, reminded the youths of the importance of having a balance between academics and sport, noting that there are numerous cases to show that the two supplement each other.
“People say that if you play sport you can’t learn education…but you know how many bright boys and girls we have who can play sports? My grand-daughter; she swims and she does dancing, and you know what? She got Bishops’ at the last Grade Six exams, one mark short of Queens’ College, and she plays a lot of sports,” Harry intimated.
Elishaba Johnson, one of the bright young prospects in Guyana, is a product of the Teach Them Young programme, and Harry used him as an example of someone who the youngsters can emulate. Elishaba is one of Guyana’s top age group players and is now part of the team of instructors at the camp.
Meanwhile, coach Linden Johnson said the camp is geared to equip the participants with the fundamentals of the sport. One of the positives from this year’s programme is the large turnout of females, something that Johnson is extremely heartened by.
The camp, which is being conducted by Johnson and a number of coaches, will conclude on August 11.