Says Iva Wharton
Mention the name Colin France and the image of a table tennis ball readily springs to mind.
That is because Colin France is a household name in Guyana and his name is synonymous with table tennis.
France is an accomplished player who has done it all; a player who has been involved in the sport for well over three decades. He has played, coached and was captain of Guyana national teams to various table tennis championships.
In the 1970s, France was nearly unbeatable winning three consecutive national men’s singles crowns. He was also responsible for the success of female players Collette Medas and Francine Abrams both national female champions. Abrams also distinguished herself by reaching the Caribbean women’s singles final before losing to Barbadian Kibibbi Moseley at the 1992 championships held in Guyana.
Since then France has been involved in coaching and recently gained another feather in his cap, his protégé, Priscilla Graves, won a silver medal at the recent seventh Pre-cadet and Cadet Championships in Jamaica.
Greaves was one of the success stories of the Pre-cadet and Cadet Championships in Jamaica along with Elishaba Johnson, the Under-13 girls and boys’ team and the Under-11 girls’ team.
While the Guyana team was declared overall champions after capturing five gold medals, five silver medals and eight bronze medals, the performances of Greaves and Johnson were the best in the individual singles competitions.
The two reached the finals of their respective divisions in the Under-13 singles Johnson losing 0-4 to Stephan Payne of Barbados while Greaves lost 1-4 to Esmerlyn Castro of Santo Domingo (Dominican Republic).
Greaves is the great niece of France. Her uncle, Cleon Baxter Dennis, was a national rugby player who also played a bit of ping pong, as the game is sometimes referred to.
Sport, runs in her blood!
With table tennis in her genes and a coach who is as good as they come by her side, small wonder that Greaves is racking up the accolades and the trophies.
The expert opinion is that should she continue along this path she could easily achieve more in the sport than her illustrious great uncle.
Priscilla’s mom Rhonda recalls how, as the saying goes, the young star was born.
“He (Colin) just came up one day, a morning and he said he needed to teach Priscilla table tennis and in four days she was the U-10 champion,” Rhonda recalls.
The tournament was the annual Mashramani tournament held every February in observance of Guyana becoming a Co-operative Republic and since here entry into the sport the 13-year-old Marian Academy student has gone from strength to strength.
France recalls those early days.
”It was the first tournament she ever played. I recall teaching her a new serve on the morning of the tournament,” he added whilst pointing out that Greaves has never lost an U-10 tournament locally.
Greaves was on her way. She won a bronze medal in 2009 in the Under-10 category of the Mini-Cadet Championships in Barbados losing to Adrian Diaz and the following year won a silver medal at the Silver Bowl tournament in Trinidad and Tobago.
Rhonda says that Priscilla took a year off from the sport while she was preparing to sit the annual Common Entrance Examinations and that her game suffered as a result.
France agrees.
“It kind of threw her back. It affects all the players. Once they have to study for Common Entrance it affects them. I took her off. She was not playing period and that kind of threw her back a little.
In 2008 when Greaves first picked up a racket, those with an eye for talent quickly recognized that the young girl, though chubby, was a special talent. France, a stickler for ensuring that his players perfect the basic strokes, made sure that she did the drills with perfect form paying special attention to her footwork.
But Rhonda says in those early days despite the training, her daughter did not fully comprehend the seriousness of the sport and the training that she was undergoing. Like most young girls, the internet was a fascination and a competing interest.
Rhonda said she was oftentimes forced to step in and help to motivate her young daughter.
“I had to be behind her. She is more a laid back person. I would have to motivate her before she responds,” she told Stabroek Sport yesterday.
Some females who play table tennis have been known to be a sort of a tomboy but Priscilla is not such a person.
“She is very quiet but when it comes to her game that’s another matter,” mom, Priscilla, says adding…. ”She likes the game but you have to motivate her and let her understand the seriousness of competition, what she can achieve and so on. Now, having won a silver medal in the singles at the Pre-Cadet and Cadet Championships, she has a better understanding of what representing her country means to the people of this country and how much winning a medal at these championships impact on the player themselves,” Rhonda said.
France, who spent long hours training the members of the squad told Stabroek sport that he expected the performances as the players worked very hard.
“It was a magnificent performance. It was the best performance in recent years by a junior team. We brought back the most medals in recent years and it just shows that Guyana can really do well at upcoming championship. But all in all it was very good.”
He added:”She was struggling emotionally during some matches and this affected her performance in the final.”
But France expressed his satisfaction with his charge’s performance.
“I am very, very pleased with her performance.” He pointed out that Greaves played unbeaten throughout the team competition beating everyone 3-0. In fact, it was only until the final that she lost her first game.
France does not take all the credit for Greaves’ performance pointing out that some of the senior players also helped.
“I think players like Trenace Lowe, Natalie Cummings, Denzel Hopkinson and David Duncan and all the others who helped out with preparing the junior players for the championships must be complimented and it only goes to show that collectively we can do things,” he said.
By virtue of her performance Greaves has qualified to compete in the Latin American Championships scheduled for Venezuela in November.
At the moment she is undergoing training in the United States of America but her coach France says they will resume training on her return. He said he was unsure whether the U-13 girls’ team will also be in Venezuela since the team won gold and said he was awaiting clarification on that matter.
“Right now she is in the US training. When she comes back we will continue. The silver medal has done well for her confidence level and can only be a positive for her,” he ended.
Rhonda says that without the sponsorship her daughter would not have been able to help the Guyana team record its best ever performance in years at this level.
She said she would like to thank especially Mr. Young from St Sidwell’s Church and Maggie’s Catering.
She said the team received quite a bit of assistance from persons in Jamaica for which the entire team was thankful.
She said she would also like to thank persons who supported the two take-away lunches and cake sales held by the women’s auxiliary noting that the fund raisers helped to contribute to the airfare for the tickets.
“That really helped a lot, so we would like to thank the parents and others who supported those ventures. Nigel’s Supermarket for providing vouches and also the venue, Bounty Farm for providing the chicken and Mr. and Mrs. Corlette. Special thanks also must go out to Mrs. June Daniels.”
