Table
Tennis In Nature Island
3/1/2006
Richard McAfee from the United States was the ITTF Course Presenter
at the first ever ITTF Level 1 Course to be held in Dominica, an island
in the East Caribbean known for its rugged natural beauty.
Staged in Roseau, the capital city; twenty coaches took part in the
course which lasted six hours each day for five days.
The sixth day gave promising junior players from throughout the country
the chance to receive coaching with a clinic, conducted by the coaches
who had just finished the course, being held.
Judging by the excellence of their efforts, it is clear that the future
of the sport is bright in Dominica. More than one half of the course
participants were school teachers who already are coaching the sport
in their own schools. The importance of this course to Dominica’s
government was clearly shown by the fact that the teachers were given
the week off to attend!
Thanks
Special thanks must go to the newly elected Dominica Table Tennis President,
Mr. Edger Berridge, for his hours of hard work in making all the arrangements
and to the Dominica Olympic Committee, who worked with the IOC’s
Olympic Solidarity Programme to make the course possible.
Two American Table Tennis Companies, Butterflyonline.com and Newgy Industries
also deserve thanks for their support, both donated equipment for the
course; their kindness greatly enhanced the course.
Smiles
Coach McAfee also brought with him donated bat rubbers and blades from
the players in the Denver, Colorado area which put broad smiles on the
local Dominica players’ faces.
Dominica is a small country of about 70,000 people but clearly it has
a large heart for the sport of table tennis. Course members in Dominica
(Photo: Dominica TTA)
