The Guyana Table Tennis Association (GTTA) has said it will continue to provide training equipment and logistical support for students preparing for the Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC) Physical Education’s School-Based Assessment (SBA) and other programmes.
This equipment will be utilised for the expanding schools’ training, and coach development and competition programmes which form part of the GTTA strategic developmental plan aimed at decentralisation of the sport: creating equity and access, enhancing the performance and profile of the sport following a mass participation model.
In an exclusive interview with Guyana Times Sport, GTTA President Godfrey Munroe said, “It’s truly great to have the impetus and support from the other stakeholders from the Allied Arts Unit, from our ITTF [International Table Tennis Federation] certified coaches. It truly emphasised what collaboration can bring about – resounding success.
GTTA President Godfrey Munroe
“We were able to find some new allies in some of the physical education teachers within several of the regions who are seem keen and enthusiastic in serving and advancing our developmental programmes, which augurs well for future programmes. We have recognised critically that for our programmes to take foothold, there is need for champions to undertake work: serve and assist us with implementation and sustainability of these types of interventions.”
These programmes continue the Association’s developmental and decentralisation agenda and are geared towards providing greater equity and access to students, and form part of a mass participation approach in getting students to develop a lifelong skill in physical activity, which is an investment in their health and future, in addition to developing school teams who will compete in interhouse, interschool, interdistrict and national competitions.
Children engaged in a game of table tennis
Munroe noted that assisting students to proficiently complete their SBAs allows the GTTA as an association to still provide programmes and keep active, building the foundation which would help the sport to mitigate against the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic while positioning the body to advance.
He said, “The equipment was provisioned for through the project with our partnership and investments made through the Government of the People’s Republic of China, through its Embassy in Guyana.”
