| Ian Marshall, ITTF Publications Editor |
| A Smile of Gratitude, the Reward for Slovenian Sponsors |
Photo by: Courtesy of Dr Miran Kondric
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The reward is not always financial, there is more to life than money; certainly we all need money but ask any successful teacher, any teacher dedicated to the job what is the greatest reward and the answer will be unanimous.
It is seeing a pupil succeed, it seeing the smile of success, the smile of achievement and the smile of future possibilities.
Furthermore, for those children who come from disadvantaged backgrounds, there is one more smile, the smile of gratitude; it is that smile that recently touched the heart of Dr. Miran Kondric, a member of the ITTF Sports Science, who visited the Philippines. |
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Dr Miran Kondric with two young players from the Philippines |
Meeting at Sports Science Congress
“After the 11th ITTF Sports Science Congress in Yokohama, Peter Cua and Oskar Santelices invited me to Philippines”, said Dr Miran Kondric. “You asked for it, and we do it; this is how I would describe our trip to the Philippines.”
Assisted by Mirko Janskovec, former coach to the Yugoslav Women’s Team. Dr Miran Kondric organized sponsorship from the NES company in Slovenia, gifts for 40 children were sent to the Philippines.
Dr. Miran Kondric accompanied by Dr. Gordana Furjan Mandic and Dr. Nicolae Ochiana travelled to the Philippines.
Angels
“Sponsors are like angels; we now have our own angels and they gave us all help despite the fact that we are so far away”, said Peter Cua. “Sponsors make kids smile, they make them feel being loved without being seen, they motivate us even though we have never heard their voices; they help us forget the problems that we face in everyday life, they allow us to attend sports activities that let us enjoy life amidst adversity.”
Peter Cua was quite clear about the necessity of sponsorship.
Sponsorship Importance
“Sponsorship is very important in our country because it is the only hope for the poorest families to give their children a chance to be involved in sport”, he said. “When mothers and fathers find out about sponsorship possibilities, they feel happy because it’s one step forward in the search for a better life of their kids”,
Equally Dr. Miran Kondric soon realized how vital it was tom help the young players in the Philippines.
Better Life
“Sponsorship isn’t about covering every need that people have; at least that’s how I see it when I arrived in the Philippines with my colleagues from Croatia and Romania but it does cover the most important things to have a better table tennis life”, said Dr Miran Kondric. “Sponsored children receive from us new rackets and rubbers; 40 of them were lucky to receive those gifts and I saw the happiness on their faces as we handed the gifts over, that is an experience I wouldn’t exchange for anything in the world, I had tears in my eyes.”
It is a response I can well understand.
Anticipation
“I liked to see the kids when they came to the service area to pick up their gifts, they had waited anxiously all day, they had marked it on their calendars as a special day”, continued Dr Miran Kondric. “I can’t explain how much love the children felt when they received their gifts, I am sure that on my next visit they will tell me about their training sessions with the new equipment and I am convinced that they will make good use of them too.”
Lecture
However, the meaning for the visit was not just to arrange the sponsorships.
“We were invited by the University of Philippines to prepare a lecture and workshops for physical education teachers and table tennis coaches, over 100 students and coaches took part in the lecture and workshops”, explained Dr Miran Kondric. “All of them were delighted because they made a contact with experts from Europe and most of them had for the first time a chance to see some stranger explaining them his way of success in table tennis.”
Different Game
Also there were further reasons.
“The second reason of our visit to Philippines was to experience the vintage game Liha; a table tennis game where the players use sandpaper instead of the rubbers”, continued Dr Miran Kondric. “It’s the game which is played only in Philippines and in the USA, at the local club in Malabon city we were amazed by the warm hospitality and the perfect lesson provided for this vintage game.”
An enjoyable experience as was the visit in total.
Good Hosts
“The Philippinos are probably the best hosts you will find in the world even though people mostly aren’t “rich” in their wallets, they are very rich in their hearts; everywhere you can witness their hospitality”, smiled Dr Miran Kondric. They will never show you that they have to struggle through the life, even now when typhoons have reached their country, so it was a great honor for us to have been invited to come to their country.”
A great honour and one for which he was most grateful.
Gratitude Both Ways
“I thank each and every one of our hosts who work with the Philippinos kids in table tennis”, said Dr Miran Kondric. “I thank the staff of the University of Philippines for giving us the chance to help them by improving their work with the youngsters.”
Dr Miran Kondric and his colleague met all their travel expenses and at the end of the programme agreed to personally sponsor two young table tennis players.
A magnificent gesture and sponsorship is a two way process, the sponsor expects a return.
The return is the smile of gratitude.
Play in action (left) and Dr Miran Kondric with grateful recipients of gifts (right).
Photo courtesy of Dr Miran Kondric
Young players in the Philippines with Dr Miran Kondric.
Photo courtesy of Dr Miran Kondric |
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