– on what must be done for players to attain Olympic level
By Timothy Jaikarran
Chelsea Edghill would be representing Guyana at the Tokyo Olympics, as she received an International Table Tennis Federation ‘Wild Card’ spot for the games in Japan. Edghill is the first table tennis player from Guyana, male or female, to achieve this feat.
GTTA President Godfrey Munroe is extremely proud of Edghill’s accomplishments, but is hopeful that other players can follow in her footsteps.
Munroe is hopeful that, with the right process, the young generation can represent Guyana at the highest level
In an exclusive interview with this publication, Munroe outlined key and necessary steps on what has to be done if athletes are to make it to the Olympics’ level. “We already have athletes with the pedigree, talent and skill to compete at the highest level. This has been demonstrated over the years. What is need is the requisite support and structures,” he said.
“However, it requires the whole system being in place in order to make it sustainable, and these include talent development, identification programmes, coaching support, and pathways which allow us to have a greater nucleus of higher-qualified coaches,” Munroe added.
Chelsea Edghill will be representing Guyana at the Tokyo Olympics
The GTTA boss also stressed on such issues as financial support for athletes to attend high-yield centers and competitions; facilities to allow players to train uninhibited for a minimum of 5 hours daily; equity and access across the regions; the use of science, with medicinal support recovery and physiotherapy; physical fitness; aerobic and anerobic inputs; psychological and nutritional support to national federations, and scholarships programmes among other key pillars.
However, he related that these require key resource inputs, which would be both human and financial. Munroe said studies would show that at the elite stage, there is a greater level of investment required to make a marginal gain. He explained that success in sports is more attributed to systems and structures, rather than on talent.
“To be more specific, with the current crop of talent, attendance at high-yield centres on regular intervals… We have an existing MOU with the Govt of the People’s Republic of China which allows for national team players to attend high-yield centres in China. In this regard, the use of the Cuban coach in our national team programmes; support to attend key competitions; inputs in the realm of psychological nutritional, psychological support; coaching development and support; equipment support and incentives are key ingredients needed. There are ways that we can innovate to get there, as a country that doesn’t have unlimited resources” Munroe opined.
