SVGTTA must negate the administrative topspin

The election of a new executive body last Wednesday , December 14, at the West St George Secondary School’s auditorium, to administer the affairs of the St Vincent and the Grenadines TableTennis Association (SVGTTA), should usher in new era of service to the sport.

Among those elected are persons who have served before and have returned, meshed with a few new faces.

The association is again led by Orville Haslam, OD, who was reinstated unopposed. He has alongside him, Truman Quashie, vice – president; Shari Ollivierre, secretar; Romano Spencer, Treasurer; along with Mikael Hazelwood, the assistant secretary- treasurer; as well as Sean Stanley, public relations officer.

The executive is completed by Joseph Carrington, Leighton Adams and Unica Velox.

These nine are set with the task, first and foremost of placing the sport on a firmer footing and oversee the advancement of Table Tennis here in St Vincent and the Grenadines for the next four years.

Hopefully, their task will be made easier as the many persons who showed up at Wednesday’s elective Annual General Meeting, would be the anchor of support for the new executive.

This notion must be reinforced as when the cracks opened up in the last executive, it became evident that some did not have the fortitude to stay and simply abandoned ship.

And, it was more than what greeted the eyes and filled the ears, as whilst the sport was functioning during the last five years, the fort was held by a few who were able to weather the storm amidst some administrative turbulence.

Not to relive the past, but most of the elected members of the SVGTTA who were installed in November 2017, either failed to function or fell by the wayside.

No one can thumb the exact cause or causes for those persons to simply disband their duties, but what must be certain, history must not repeat itself so soon.

Therefore, the onus is on Haslam, to use his wit, poise and administrative acumen to reconfigure the organisation into a well- oiled machine.
He has also as a matter of priority, to have his executive working in unison for the betterment of Table Tennis, hence must lessen the almost inevitable interpersonal fissures.

Hopefully, men will be men and bury the hatchets and get on wholesomely with the business of Table Tennis.

The new executive has to be cognizant that the sport has developed over the years, but a lot of that development has eluded many of our local players.

Therefore, Haslam and company have to get into the psyche of the players and let them know what time it is.

Players have to acknowledge that their worth is not winning titles here, but excelling beyond the shores of St Vincent and the Grenadines.

This should be the mandate of the men and women who were elected last Wednesday, that recreational Table Tennis has its place, but national representation has no order for those who want to practise once or twice per week.

But to the good, the sport of Table Tennis, has many things going for it. At the disposal of players is the almost uninhibited availability of the West St George Secondary School, and to some extent, the New Democratic Party headquarters.

In addition, the SVG Table Tennis Foundation, in its pure form and structure , offers that developmental buffer to the sport at all levels.

Getting Table Tennis to that acceptable level for St Vincent and the Grenadines to reel off players who can hold their own, at least in the region, will take more than having a space to play.

Most importantly, there has to be a well -crafted development pathway, that engages scientific practices, committed administrators and players who have an innate will to be better at what they do.

Table Tennis has to lift its game, as assessment and national championships are not the lone prescription for development.