The Guyana Table Tennis Association (GTTA) is making efforts to stage this year’s annual senior Caribbean TT championships. The championships are scheduled to be held in St Lucia but Stabroek Sports understands that because of the damage wrought by Hurricane Tomas in late October of last year, the Caribbean island might be unable to host the tournament.
At present, large swathes of St Lucia remain under water with numerous houses and complexes being inundated with flood waters.
Yesterday, a source close to the GTTA revealed that the local association has been in contact with president of the St Lucia National Table Tennis Association (SLNTTA) Teddy Matthews who told the GTTA that he should have a “definitive response” by March month end.
According to Matthews, the St Lucia TT association is eager to host the championships as it would be the first time that the championships will be held there.
“We have a great indoor facility capable of holding 14 tables; we have brand new tables and surrounds and we have hotels close by. So logistically we can host. It’s the cost and with us just having a major hurricane, it might not be financially feasible,” Matthews wrote. The SLNTTA has a budget of $275,000 eastern Caribbean dollars for the staging of the tournament with approximately $125,000 to be borne by the participating countries.
According to Matthews the SLNTTA is in the process of promoting the tournament to various stakeholders.
In the meantime the GTTA is pursuing at least tentatively the staging of the championships and has already tasked Assistant Commissioner of Police George Vyphius and Corporal Andrew Daly with the responsibility of working out the logistics for a successful tournament.
The GTTA is also scheduled to hold a two-day training and accreditation programme for local coaches next week-end while the Business School sponsored Inter-Schools tournament will take place from January 24-30.
