GTTA benefits from ITTF equipment grant

GTTA President, Godfrey Munroe (left), ensuring the equipment’s safe departure from the wharf

The Guyana Table Tennis Association (GTTA) on Friday cleared from the Muneshwer’s Wharf a quantity of table tennis equipment received as a grant from the International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) in that international body’s efforts to assist the GTTA in its drive to develop and decentralise the sport in Guyana.

The equipment received
comprised of six Stag 1000DX competition tables; six clip-on table tennis nets; six score cards; 80 STAG Elite beginners’ racquets; 4.5 gross of STAG One Star plastic training balls, and two gross of STAG and Three Star plastic competition balls.
The grant was provided after the GTTA had approached the ITTF with a proposal to develop and decentralise table tennis in Guyana, and actively engage the ITTF programmes.
The GTTA has, in a release, said this of the grant: “It will significantly impact the development efforts of the GTTA, allowing us to expand our programmes in areas of athlete training, talent identification and selection, competition, club development, coordinated national team training, and other key areas.
“This fits in with our strategic plan, which is to have programmes for all levels of players throughout the year, and to provide equity and access to more players across Guyana, and (operate) as a platform for sustainable development (of) the sport, in addition (to) assisting the association with its capitalisation efforts as we seek to grow the sport (and) acquire a home for the sport as a key sustainable pillar.”
The grant positively impacts the GTTA’s decentralisation efforts, given its strategic plan to host and take national competitions and training camps to the rural areas as part of developing the sport; and to provide competition tables to regions such as Berbice, Linden and Bartica.
The foregoing is part of a vision to gradually build capacity in the regions so as to allow steering committees in those areas to host domestic and national tournaments and training programmes.
Responding to the assistance received from the International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF), GTTA President, Godfrey Munroe, is extending his appreciation to ITTF Latin American Development Officer Carlos Esnard, ITTF Development Officer Ramon Ortega Montes, as well as to the LATTU and CRTTF, for lobbying for Guyana to benefit from the grant based on the GTTA’s advocacy.
The GTTA would, further, like to extend gratitude to Social Cohesion Minister responsible for Sport, Dr George Norton, for facilitating the tax waivers, and also to the staff of the Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA).