The Guyana Table Tennis Association (GTTA) has announced that Guyana will host the 2020 edition of Caribbean Mini and Pre Cadet Table Tennis Championships and Caribbean Hopes Training and Selection Camp in the summer of 2020.
The Caribbean Mini and Pre-Cadet championships form the incubator for girls and boys between ages 11 and 13 years and under in the Caribbean region.
“The hosting of these games represents a long -term investment in Guyana’s table tennis development, since, as hosts of this tournament, Guyana has the possibility of being able to double the amount of players fielded in competition which would see thirty-two players,” the GTTA said.
According to the Godfrey Munroe-led GTTA, the plan is to use these developmental championships as a basis to develop a nucleus of players who can be selected to represent Guyana in future international competitions and to establish a succession plan at the youth level.
This will see focus being placed on the development of players at the primary level (between the ages of (6-13) with a view of establishing a national Hopes programme, thus synchronising the GTTA programs with ITTF.
With junior Olympic cycle games and world junior circuit events being played at the cadet level, it has become of critical importance that Guyana establish a structured feeder system and programme if we are to continue to be successful and become more competitive.
Hosting of these games, the GTTA said, will see a focus on the development of players from the primary school realm and a concentration acceleration of the GTTA national table tennis for schools’ programme.
Guyana last hosted the 8th edition of the championships in 2013, where the GTTA fielded and developed a nucleus of 32 players.
The Hopes training camp, which will be held eight days before the championships, will be conducted by an ITTF expert. The event will see the Caribbean’s best 11 years and under boys and girls and their coaches participating in high-intensity training.
The programme, which aims at providing training, nurturing and early exposure to young talents, will be held for eight (8) days.
The programme will be used to select the best two Caribbean 11 years and under boys and girls to participate in the Latin American world hopes training and competition slated for later in 2020.
Training will be done in two three-hour sessions per day, each day commencing at 09:00h and concluding at 18:30h
Caribbean Under-13 boys bronze medallist, Colin Wong , along with young talents Jasmine Billingy, Samara Sukhai, Akira Watson, Quenna Torrington, Malachi Moore, Ebo Mc Neil, Dhanesh Persaud, and Alexander De Abreu Neil are players with international experience among other emerging talents that will form Guyana’s squad in preparation for the games.
