50 Shades of Tennis Camp enters final week

On Friday, the penultimate week of the 50 Shades of Tennis Camp ended and to date, it has been a success according to national tennis coach Linden Johnson, who is also the head facilitator of the camp. The event started with some 30 participants over two weeks ago and has since seen an expansion of more than 60 when the third and penultimate week ended.
“It has been a success so far because our target was to have 60 or more participants and today we have seen that amount which is good for tennis in Guyana,” said Johnson, in a brief interview with Guyana Times Sport at the camp’s location at the National Gymnasium.
Of the 60 plus participants, 90 per cent are first timers, 70 per cent are under-13s and approximately 40 per cent are female, which is an improvement from previous years, where the tournament was held under the title ‘Teach Them Young Table Tennis Camp’, before changing to 50 Shades of Tennis to commemorate Guyana’s 50th Independence.
“Guyana’s top junior female player, Chelsea Edghill, would have been a product from the 2006 edition of this camp, along with several other male and female players. It is good to see the turn out of the children under 13 years, who could be nurtured for the future as well as the increase attendance in females. There are also some participants from Buxton and beyond on the East Coast and Timehri on the East Bank,” Johnson detailed.
The event is separated into three categories, the mini-cadets, pre-cadets and children over 13. The mini-cadets are for 11 years and under and starts at 08:00h and concludes at 10:00h, before breaking for four hours to resume at 14:00h and end at 16:00h. Meanwhile, the pre-cadets are for children 13 years and under and runs from 08:00h to 12:30h. The timing for children over 13 is the same as the pre-cadets.
The camp is an annual initiative of the National Sports Commission, with the central aim of targeting players between the ages of four and 18 years, to have over 60 players’ (boys and girls) introduced to the sport, orientation, teaching and practicing the sport of table tennis in a fun way.
The objectives include helping players with the basic skills, assisting players with preparation for future tournaments, train and introduce students to the basic techniques of the game, discover the skills of children-talent identification, amuse children with sport skills and develop habits of healthy competition.
The camp is being conducted in theoretical and practical segments; that is, participants will have firsthand experience of the sport, as well as be knowledgeable of it. The duration is for 40 hours, lasting four weeks.
The panel of coaches includes certified International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) level 1 and level 2 coaches. Participants will only receive certificates if they have an attendance of 90 per cent and higher.