A re-birth for table tennis in Jamaica

Sandra Rettle leads a new era in the West Indies (Photo credit: Guillermo Coydan/ ITTF)

It has been a struggle for Jamaica at the Latin American Junior Championships in Cartagena; the West Indian island is famed for its great traditions in the sport of cricket, the tradition is long and continuous.

Look at the names of those who comprise a West Indies cricket team and you will always find Jamaican stars prominent in the batting order.

In table tennis, there is a tradition of success but it is a broken tradition.

Think back to 1970s, it was an era when table tennis enjoyed halcyon days; the "Lovebird" tournament attracted the stars of the era; Sweden's Mikael Appelgren and Stellan Bengtsson plus Yugoslavia's Anton Stipancic were regular visitors to the Caribbean Island.

Return

Those days are now resigned to the history books but they may return; there is a rejuvenation in Jamaica and that rejuvenation is being led by Sandra Rettle, the country's national team coach and present in Cartagena to advise her young players.

She is from the island's capital, Kingston and represented Jamaica from 1978 to 1993.

Suffering

"Yes, since the end of the Lovebird tournaments, table tennis Jamaica has suffered; now there is a re-birth", explained Sandra Rettle. "We have started an extensive coaching programme for young players from six years old; our problem is that we need more table tennis tables."

The problem is illustrated by the fact that at the National Sports Centre in Kingston they have only four table tennis tables and a host of players.

Introduced into Schools

"We have introduced table tennis into many schools and we have a good group of players attending training at the National Sports Centre in Kingston", explained Sandra Rettle. "We have twenty-four players aged eight to twelve and fifteen aged thirteen to eighteen in our national squad in Kingston."

Now, I'm no Euclid or Pythagoras but almost forty players and four tables is some quadratic equation.

Visit Districts

"The coaches also visit the outlying districts because it's impossible for some children to travel to Kingston", continued Sandra Rettle. "We have four national coaches; two work full-time, two part-time."

It is undoubted progress and of course everything takes time; it may well be two to three years hence that we see players from Jamaica being really competitive in the annual continental championships. It is a fact of which Sandra Rettle is well aware.

Experience

"The players competing in Cartagena are much more experienced; their level is much higher, we are here to learn", continued the Jamaican coach. "At the moment we are fund raising, so hopefully we can play in more international competitions in the future."

In Jamaica the seeds for the future are being sown, a programme is being put in place and medals in the international arena may soon follow.

(Credit: ITTF. Click here for further information.)