SVGTTA has no axe to grind – Haslam

Orville Haslam, the man charged with technical matters and tournaments of the St Vincent and the Grenadines Table Tennis Association, says that the organization, has “no axe to grind.”{{more}}

This was in direct response to concerns raised in some quarters over the non-selection of Robert “Bob” Ballantyne to the St Vincent and the Grenadines squad for the 2014 Commonwealth Games, set for Glasgow, Scotland, from later this month.

Haslam, in an interview with SEARCHLIGHT last Thursday, noted that Ballantyne was not selected because of the new focus of the association, which is heavily leaning to the younger players.

“If we ought to get in the future, we have to look at the youngsters coming up. … Let us be frank, in the last 10 years, what have we achieved?” Haslam proffered.

The players selected, who left last Sunday for Scotland include Javier de Shong, Kavier Gaymes, Romano Spencer and the lone female – Unica Velox. Sean Stanley has been listed as the team’s coach and Haslam, team manager.

Looking at the team of players, Haslam noted: “We have some good youngsters here; it is not ideal, but it is a start…. Now if you want to reach anywhere, you have to start with a training camp, a training squad within an age group… It does not mean that the squad is open to everybody and tournaments are a guideline and not the sole criteria for selection.”

Haslam noted that de Shong is under the age of 20, while Gaymes is in his early twenties.

Indications are that Ballantyne is about 55 years old.

Haslam believed that it must have been misconstrued that Ballantyne, who currently tops the points standings with 13 points, would have had automatic selection.

“It was announced publicly that this was not the criterion for selection… That is why although we have a points system, it is not a ranking; it is a points system… You might be number 10, but that does not mean that you cannot be selected for your country… You might be one, but might not; it just depended on the points that you accumulated,” Haslam reasoned.

A winner of several regional singles table tennis titles for his native Jamaica, Haslam said that other players such as Joseph Carrington, Sean Stanley, Damion Dublin and Deighton King are ahead on points of de Shong and Gaymes, and they too were not selected for the Commonwealth Games.

Haslam further detailed, “What I am after is performing outside, outside your domestic environment and what has happened so many times in this country in a lot of sports, we dominate domestically, move out of our environment and we can’t compete.”

Haslam contends that at this juncture, table tennis is in need of some image building.

“Each youngster coming forward needs a role model; don’t care if he is 55/60, 50 or 40… Can we point to anybody in St Vincent, especially in table tennis? Do we have a role model in performances, in conduct, in performance or direction in which you want to go to? … There is none”, he stated strongly.

Haslam reiterated: “I have no axe to grind …I have one desire in life and that is to make table tennis – the best in this country.”

The table tennis segment of the 2014 Commonwealth Games serves off July 24. (RT)