Dibbs: People do not see sport now only as a hobby or just for recreation. People use sport for educational, personal, financial and professional development. - WINSTON SILL/FREELANCE PHOTOGRAPHER
TABLE TENNIS, once one of the bright stars among local sports, has lost much of its lustre in recent years.
The game, which produced outstanding past national representatives in Joy Foster, Monica Desouza, Orville Haslam, Stephen Hylton, Furnando Roberts and Michael Hyatt, has been struggling to attract quality players and support, at all levels, has taken quite a slide.
New president of the Jamaica Table Tennis Association (JTTA), University of the West Indies (UWI) graduate Joseph Dibbs, wants to change all that and has vowed to put table tennis back where it belongs, among the major spectator sports in Jamaica.
Dibbs, the 1997 national singles champion, has represented Jamaica at many levels including Carifta Games, Caribbean Championships, Central American and Caribbean Games and at the Pan American Games.
One-on-One caught up with the JTTA president on Monday at Quest Security Services Limited where he is the general manager.
QUESTION: How were you introduced to the game?
JOSEPH DIBBS (JD): My father introduced me to the game in Port Antonio. He placed a table tennis board in a house and that's where I started playing. I attended Campion College but in Port Antonio I met and played with a number of the top Titchfield High players such as past national player Errol Latouche, former JTTA president Peter Moo Young and Samuel Lamont.
While at Campion, I joined the YMCA Club and started to rub shoulders with the big players such as Evan Williams, Michael Hyatt, David Marshalleck and Colin McNeish.
Q: Why did you decide to seek the presidency of the JTTA?
JD: When the previous administration decided not to run again, I looked at the other contenders and thought I could do a better job so I decided to give it a try.
I was not new to table tennis administration. I had previously served as assistant treasurer in 1992 and in 1993 I was the treasurer for the administration which successfully hosted the Caribbean Table Tennis Championships.
Q: Why has support for the game fallen since the 1980s?
JD: Bad management. I believe that the association did not plan correctly or had the correct foresight to continue the development and the interest in the game. They also had a big problem in the past.
Some administrations thought only about the national programme and others only the development programme.
That was the root of the problem because although you may have a good development programme, if you do not have a good national programme to aspire to then the development is going to stagnate.
There is also a problem if you only have a national programme and no development.
I think there has to be a balance of both to actually drive the sport and get people to play.
Q: What are your plans to revitalise the sport?
JD: First, we are going to develop coaching. A sport cannot develop unless there are people who understand the game and know how to teach the game.
Right now, there are only three active coaches Sandra Riettie, Donald Salmon and Clive Grossett. These coaches represent maybe 90 per cent of all the juniors (about 100) that are playing table tennis in Jamaica's prep and high schools.
If we had 50 coaches assigned to schools, we could have each coach having 15-20 students and up to a 1,000 more playing the game.
We are planning to have intermediate and advanced courses for coaches when the season is over. We want to train these coaches, then send them out into the field. Right now our two Chinese coaches are working with the national team for the Caribbean Championships. As soon as that is finished they will concentrate on teaching the coaches.
A sport must also help people to reach attainable goals. People do not see sport now only as a hobby or just for recreation. People use sport for educational, personal, financial and professional development.
Previous administrations did not look at those things for the development of table tennis. Table tennis would always stop at a point. You could not make a living out of it. One could not get an education out of it. So people decided to go to cricket or football.
As part of our new thrust, we have secured a scholarship programme from Texas Wesleyan University in the United States so table tennis players can get full or partial scholarships, depending on their level.
With these scholarships available, there is something to work towards. We are also trying to set up some leagues. The problem is the level of the Jamaican player. We only had one recent player, Stephen Hylton, who went to a higher level. Hylton played the leagues in Sweden and made a living out of that.
We are trying to open up those doors for when we get players up to that level. This is what we are working towards with the Chinese coaches who are here now. We want our players to reach a level where they can perform their craft and make a living from it.
As part of our development programme, we also want to put concrete tables in all inner-city areas schools, community centres so people can play and enjoy the game much like they do in China.
Q: You have mentioned the development of young players. Are there any such players around with good talent?
JD: There are some good players coming up. One, Kane Watson, is making serious strides. He is on the brink of the national team now. He has not won any tournaments but he has reached the final and just about every semi-final.
Q: Have you been getting private sector support?
JD: We have only been in for a month. Support has been promised, however, as maybe some feel a new vigour and want to help. We are looking forward to people coming on board and assisting us.
Q: In the past many top international players have been invited to play here. Do you have any plans in this regard?
JD: That's a difficult process. One of our aims is to offer invitations to some of the players who compete in the U.S. Open tournament. That tournament was played July 7-11 in Fort Lauderdale and will also be held there next year.
Q: Have you been able to get a lot of help from former players?
JD: We have had some help. Trophy City, the company of former national champion and past president Stephen Hylton, is sponsoring the National Championships and has tentatively committed to next year.
Q: What about government support?
JD: We have met with Ian Andrews of Insport and he was very helpful. He gave his support for the coaching seminars and offered to help in getting it off the ground.
The Minister of Sport, Portia Simpson Miller, has also been very helpful to our sport and secured the National Arena for us to have national training. That has been going well and we really appreciate her help.
- Elton Tucker
