How can Mr Daniel say he is being sidelined by SVGTTA?

Editor: I write to you in response to a story in you weekly newspaper dated October 21, 2016, captioned: National Champion accuses SVGTTA of sidelining him.

Here are some facts as it relates to the status of the sport table tennis in the country and Mr Carlton Daniel’s contribution or lack thereof.

How can Mr Daniel say that he is being sidelined by the SVGTTA, when he refused membership of the national training squad in 2013 in preparation for the Caribbean Championships in St Lucia? How can Mr Daniel speak of the current association in a negative way, when he was part of the former regime, which literally placed the sport in state of coma? {{more}}Mr Daniel was made technical director by his executive and did zero. They held one special invited player national tournament in six years; no junior tournaments in six years; no Independence tournaments; no production of any new players to the sport; no national trials to select players to attend the Commonwealth Games in India, CAC Games in Mexico or the Caribbean Championships in Guyana. Mr Daniel’s regime also refused to allow members and players of the SVGTTA to play at the AVESCO Club House in Arnos Vale, where the organization’s tables were being used. These are just a few of the sinister acts that were perpetuated during the latter part of 2006 to 2012.

Mr Daniel mentioned the issue of not being able to use his expertise: The current association held a number of level one courses and one level two course; Mr Daniel never did the level one programme, but wanted to be part of the level two sittings, which was rejected by the international body and the present executive, because it is not possible to jump to level two if you have not completed level one. Mr Daniel has been a PE teacher at the Adelphi Secondary School now for almost 10 years and hasn’t being able to get that school involved in table tennis pertaining to competitions or any form of development, despite the school being the proud owner of a table.

The current St Vincent and the Grenadines Table Tennis Association is the most productive one to date. There are over 200 players under 16 years of age, due to its grassroots programmes in collaboration with the Division of Physical Education and Sports. It has been spreading the sport throughout the country like no one has seen before; we just saw an influx of players from the Grenadine island of Bequia in the just concluded schools tournament (first time in history). The Association also held an international umpire and referees course and scored a record number of passes amongst the English speaking Caribbean countries (there was no Daniel). The SVGTTA for the first time has created a ranking system, where players will gain points by participating in tournaments organized by the body, so as to eliminate the old practice of a player becoming the number one in the country by only winning the National Championships, an initiative that was welcomed by the fraternity. Added to this, if you are 40 years and over, you must be a prospective winner outside of the country in order to be considered for national representation. The issue of free plane rides, free food, accommodation and sightseeing tours are over. Mr Daniel is currently ranked 7 or 8 in the country.

In closing: No organization is perfect, but in this current SVGTTA’s case, the positive outweighs the negative by a long shot.

TT Player since the 1990s

Terrence Padmore