One of Guyana’s junior coaches, Colin France, is hopeful that Guyana can host this year’s International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) Caribbean Hopes training camp in August.
The camp caters to the Caribbean’s best 11-year-old and under boys and girls, who will participate in this year’s Caribbean Mini and Pre-cadet Table Tennis Championships, which is slated to be hosted by Guyana during August 14-29.
The Hopes camp aims to provide nurturing and early exposure to young talents in the region and is usually spearheaded by an ITTF expert.
It is the first step on the road to high performance conducted under the ITTF Education and Training Programme, and is an ITTF global continental programme, which offers young players from the different continents a support pathway to benefit from training.
The training camp also offers players from the region the opportunity to possibly qualify for the Pan American team, which represents Latin America against the continents of Europe, Asia, Oceania, and North America at the World Hopes Camp and competition.
But with the recent spread of the global novel coronavirus pandemic, which is dramatically reshaping the sporting calendar, the camp may be in jeopardy.
However, France is hopeful that the situation may change in the coming months, paving the way for Guyana to play host.
Guyana’s Jasmine Billingy and Malachi Moore may be two of the young players seriously affected.
“We have been preparing for this opportunity for two or three years ago. We have been preparing for this moment,” France, who coaches Billingy, said of the importance of the camp.
“But…we have the coronavirus to deal with and everything is currently at a standstill and the ITTF or Caribbean officials will have to decide on how they will deal with that,” the coach further added.
France, who has been calling for Billingy to get more international exposure, is ruing the impact of the virus.
He explained that all the club and sporting facilities are currently on lockdown, preventing players like Billingy from advancing their preparations as they adhere to calls by the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Ministry of Public Health to embrace social distancing as a means to prevent the spread of the disease.
Meanwhile, Godfrey Munroe, President of the Guyana Table Tennis Association (GTTA), informed Stabroek Sport that Guyana, as of now, is still committed to hosting both the camp and the 2020 junior championship.
He further posited that the situation may change depending on the advice of the Caribbean Region Table Tennis Federation and IFFT.
