JTTA presidential hopefuls seek unity

THE FOUR candidates vying to become president of the Jamaica Table Tennis Association (JTTA) will prioritise uniting a fractured organisation after being elevated to the helm.

Current president, Andrew Lue, is seeking to get the backing of the affiliates for a second consecutive term but will have to fight off the challenges of Stephen Grant, Samuel Lamont, and Ingrid Graham.

Three of the four are expressing confidence in taking over, with Lamont, although having a level of certainty, sceptic about the affiliates’ list, which he believes might be his undoing when the overdue elections are eventually called.

The JTTA has been embroiled in bitter conflicts over several administrations, with Lue being the last to be swept into office with a resolution to rebuild the trust among the constituents. His presidency started peacefully before he fell out of favour with members because of various decisions which precipitated several resignations from his leadership team.

BETTER KNOWLEDGE

Lue, however, contends that he will continue his push to unite the fraternity if allowed to serve another two-year term, as he blamed non-workers for delinquency within his current administration. He claims to have a better knowledge of the workers, even those against him, whom he will seek to bring into his team.

“I am really looking forward to this election because it will revamp the team. When I took over, I got a team, which I didn’t choose, and I was new to the scene and didn’t know who was who, and I didn’t know who the actual workers were. So my team really had some ghosts in it, which I am sure will be replaced now.

“What will happen now is that the people who are putting themselves up for service, I think there is a paradigm shift, despite all that has been happening before,” Lue said.

Graham was adamant that she would be working to re-establish Jamaica as a regional force, to be accomplished by a united front.

“It’s a development stage, and I would like to unite everybody as one, regardless of whether it’s Mr Lue, Mr Grant, Mr Lamont or myself. I am here to give my support. I have plans for the development of table tennis going forward, which involve the players, coaches, and even thinking about a home for table tennis and getting sponsors on board,” Graham said, although declining to outline details of these plans. She said they would be placed in a manifesto.

“We were at the top of the region at one time, and it will take a lot of work, effort and teamwork to get us back there. It can happen, it is not impossible, but we have to work together to get it done. My team and I can’t do it alone; all hands on deck.

“Unity will not bring us back to the top just like that. Unity is strength. Unity in numbers is good. Still, we will have to work together; and come together to see where we are going wrong and what we need to do, and as such, we need funding. The team would come together to seek sponsorship, where we go from there, what we need to implement, what we need to put in place to make the sport grow to what it used to be,” Graham continued.

Grant, the president of the Kingston and St Andrew Table Tennis Association (KSATTA), is urging members of the fraternity to remove self-aggrandisement and seek to uplift the sport through work.

“To unite, we have to sit with each other and meet each other halfway, the personalities and the egos are what have created this rift, and it’s no secret. If we can, for a split second, look into ourselves as individuals and see where we fall short,” he said.

He has plans of incorporating the diaspora, which is similar to one of the unifying objectives of Lamont, who also contends that winning the trust of the JTTA members will also come by the work his team will be doing when elected.

“The best thing to stop fighting is success. Once people see things moving in a different direction. My administration will have truth, transparency and integrity, which will be the essential elements for unity and progress.

“We will include persons and dialogue with them. This is why we will get people on board, letting them realise that they are the stakeholders and give them roles to play, and then there will be no enemy, but persons who you might have disagreements with,” Lamont said.

All four stated they would be working with whoever becomes the new president.