by Ian Marshall, Editor

A total of 18 full-time and part-time coaches, 16 men and two women, all most enthusiastic, attended; notably two of the male members being from Ukraine and Russia, one female member from Japan.

All studied intensely and responded most diligently in both the practical and theory sessions to the efforts of Christina Chee; Eddy Tay the Senior High Performance Manager of the Singapore Table Tennis Association being particularly impressed.

“Aspects of sports education and sports science are very useful for coaches and ensure that coaches are equipped for different roles; at the same time they gain both knowledge and an understanding of applying innovative ideas to their coaching and teaching practice”. Eddy Tay

Most positive from Eddy Tay; it was the same from Zhai Yi, who in his younger days represented Tianjin Province and is now a coach in Singapore Sports School since 2005.

“I had valuable gains from the course conductor’s presentations; the balance between the theoretical and practical material of the course was adequate and very good for the coaches.” Zhai Yu.

Notably Christina Chee was delighted with the positive presentations by each group and the ensuing productive discussions; equally in the practical sessions the response was most encouraging, a definite sense of team spirit was engendered. The spirit that was evident throughout was greatly appreciated by Lum Siew Chin, a Physical Education teacher at the Hwa Chong Institution.

“I found the video sessions on different strokes and the concepts discussed before we tried out the practical drills very useful. I enjoyed the lessons. I could feel a passion to promote table tennis.” Lum Siew Chin.

A positive response from all members present; most importantly Christina Chee departed a most motivated course conductor.

“My appreciation to ITTF High Performance and Development, the Asian Table Tennis Union, the Singapore Table Tennis Association and staff for their support and co-operation; thank you to members of the Singapore Table Tennis Association, Loy Soo Han, Technical Director, Mr. Chew Keet Hou, Sports Development Manager and Mr. Leon Lee, Sports Programme Executive for providing perfect conditions and good organization for the course. Not forgetting thanks to all the coaches for their passion and hard work.” Christina Chee

Most significantly, all the coaches concluded the course project with high marks in both theory and practical aspects.