‘Big waste’
US TT academy wants Jamaica at the top of the region, competitive at the Olympics
Published:Sunday | February 11, 2024 | 12:09 AMJob Nelson - Sports Coordinator
HOUSTON INTERNATIONAL Table Tennis Academy (HITTA) has sent a proposal to the Jamaica Olympic Association (JOA) to help Jamaica chart a course for the 2028 Olympic Games in Los Angeles.
The idea was conceptualised by HITTA’s general manager, Manny Velazquez ,and president of the Kingston and St Andrew Table Tennis Association (KSATTA), Stephen Grant, with the president of the JOA, Christopher Samuda, acknowledging receiving the document.
Samuda, however, would not provide further details. But, according to Velazquez, a Puerto Rican, the plan is to help Jamaica return to the pinnacle of regional table tennis, and would involve the JOA funding extensive training at HITTA.
In the proposal, children between the ages of 11 and 17 would travel to HITTA, where they would be taught the modern methods of playing the sport, expecting them to grasp the concept in time for the Los Angeles Olympic Games’ qualifications.
“Current national teams are usually composed of people, sometimes from 18-25. We are not talking about older guys. The younger children, you have children 11, 12, 13, 15, 16, maybe 17 years old. Why do I say this is the best place for Jamaica? Because we are starting from scratch.
“We have to create a programme where everybody is onboard. We will take a few years to develop to the level they need to be developed. It can be done with continuous training and then create a programme to support Jamaica,” Velazquez said.
He suggested that the children would be selected through eliminations, with the best four of both genders getting an opportunity to hone their craft at HITTA. According to Grant, the partnership with HITTA started during the pandemic and, while it is the initiative of KSATTA, children across the island would be allowed to be involved.
“KSATTA is trying to get between 10 or 12 children, about six boys and six girls, in a programme that we can introduce them by some means for the next Olympics.
“It wouldn’t be Kingston and St Andrew alone. We want to organise it in such a way that everybody, every youngster, would get a chance to be a part of it, and as it goes along, then we would be able to cut down to probably the six boys, six girls, depending on how the funding goes,” Grant said.
Meanwhile, Velazquez opined that the decline of Jamaica in the sport has impacted the region, and, apart from qualification to the Olympic Games, the assistance to Jamaica would help to return the entire Caribbean as a table tennis force internationally.
“In the proposal, there is a cost involved in training the kids but, if we don’t make that investment, if we don’t get started with organising the team, then we will continue to spend money and send players who are not prepared to compete or to hit the podium or medal or even to be competitive, and that is a bigger waste.
“A bigger waste in all that is that Jamaica is no longer one of the powerhouses in table tennis, when this is one of your sports for many years when they had players who were world recognised at the highest level,” said Velazquez.