Smart times for local Table Tennis

There continues to be that buzz around the relatively small Table Tennis fraternity of St Vincent and the Grenadines.

At the centre of the evident up tick in interest is the upcoming My Smart Toilet Seat Table Tennis Series Invitational Club Championship 2023.

The inaugural championships get going on Monday, October 30, at the NDP Headquarters and culminate on Saturday, November 4, at the West St George Secondary School’s Auditorium.

Participation in the invitational club championships is open to local as well as regional entities.

Confirmed are four local clubs – Spencer’s Table Tennis Club, which has registered three teams; Adams Table Tennis Club, two teams; with the Sean Stanley Table Tennis Academy and the JD’s Academy, each entering one team.

Regionally, the Elite Holistic Academy from Trinidad and Tobago is a certainty, likewise the Caribbean Unity Sports from Barbados, with the possibility of another regional team being part of the championships.

What then is the catch that would have spawned the fervour to be part of the first ever Table Tennis championships of that nature, to be hatched here in St Vincent and the Grenadines?

Undoubtedly, the US$5000 winner takes it all cash prize, had to be among the pull factors?

Indeed, such a cash prize is unprecedented for the sport of Table Tennis in this country.

Signs of a shift in the landscape of Table Tennis, relative to prize money, came last June when the Spencer’s Table Tennis Club hosted an Open Tournament.

In that tournament, the winner of the open men’s division received EC$1500, while the open women’s champion got $1200 and $1000 was presented to the Under-16 Boys winner.

In addition, the losing quarter and semi-finalists were also remunerated. In total, the tournament had a pay out of $10,000. It was then the largest ever set of prize monies paid in a Table Tennis tournament here.

So, the sponsors, the agents for the My Smart Toilet Seat product, have given Table Tennis a shot in the arm.

Whilst the corporate entity has an obvious agenda, it is a win-win situation for both parties, as Table Tennis is experiencing a light of day, never envisaged before.

But the corporate support given to the small Table Tennis pool of players, in exchange for marketing of their product, sheds a different perspective.

First up, Table Tennis has had its value quantified and qualified. Also, local players see the financial rewards as incentives to do well.

More so, should the new championships hit it big, then the marker would have been laid down for future endeavours.

Critically, the fact that the championships have attracted regional participation augurs well for our tourism product as a host country.

Above all, hopefully local players will get their act together, as they would want to be the ones carting off with the top prize, should the championships become rooted as an annual undertaking.

Furthermore, the budding youth players have an outlet to exert some effort in their training as they are now being incentivized.
The task is also on the executive of the St Vincent and the Grenadines Table Tennis Association (SVGTTA) to cash in on the latest spark the sport is pleasurably enduring.

Relatedly, the executive of the SVGTTA will have to look at its national championships and inevitably now have to up the ante, as the narrative in respect to prize money is going through some reconfiguration. Yes, these are smart times for St Vincent and the Grenadines’ Table Tennis.

It is for all involved in the sport, not to mess around.

Happy Independence to all !!!!