With the staging of the 13th annual Caribbean Table Tennis Federation (CTTF) Junior and Cadet Champion-ships fast approaching, the Guyana Table Tennis Association (GTTA) has planned an umpires’ seminar/ workshop to bring prospective umpires up to date with the rules governing the sport.
According to general secretary of the GTTA, Godfrey Munroe, the association will stage a table tennis umpires seminar/workshop on Saturday at the Cliff Anderson Sports Hall from 1pm.
Munroe said there was a genuine need for competent umpires if the sport was to be developed.
Munroe, who is also the current national men’s singles champion, also said that the GTTA had identified the area of officiating as a weakness and was currently addressing that issue.
“There are numerous opportunities for local umpires to develop to the professional level which could result in them officiating at the World and Olympic levels once accredited,” Munroe said.
He added that the GTTA wanted to create that pathway so that the association would be able to have local umpires officiating at major games.
“From the nucleus of umpires trained we will select the best to participate in the Caribbean Championships and for an umpires’ seminar to be held in August by the International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) and Latin American Table tennis Union (LATTU) with a view of gaining international accreditation/certification,” he added.
Meanwhile, the following persons have been invited to attend the seminar: Joey Lovell, Vernon Rodrigues, Patrick Peters, Marlon Washington, Xenophen Goliath, Gibran Hussain, Joel Allen, Dwayne Gibson, John Agard, Natalie Cummings, Paul Meusa, Hewley Griffith, Edinho Lewis, Jody Ann Blake and Leona Kyte.
The coordinators for the seminar will be Munroe, Merton Blake and Linden Johnson.
Packages for registration and handouts for the sessions are available and can be uplifted from the Cliff Anderson Sports Hall from either Johnson or Blake.
The Junior Caribbean and Cadet championships will run from April 11-14 at the Cliff Anderson Sports Hall.
