by Ian Marshall, ITTF Publications Editor
Matters began with a visit to the Ministry of Youth and Sports where Kaka Lawson met the Secretary-General followed by a meeting with the Secretary General of the National Olympic Committee.
The outcome was that a highly decentralized was arranged; Kaka Lawson was able to conduct ITTF/PTT Level One Courses in three cities and in two provinces.
A training camp was held in Moramanga from Tuesday 27th September to Saturday 1st October, notably 50 young people aged six to 18 years of age attended; next on the agenda was a visit to Antananarivo, the island’s capital city, for a training camp from Monday 3rd to Tuesday 11th October.
Matters concluded with coach education being on the agenda in Tamatave for physical education and sports teachers and primary school teachers.
The visit to Moramanga was very much the highlight of the visit to Mozambique.
“Moramanga has a reputation to be a reservoir for Malagasy able tennis, most of the best young players of the country are from the clubs of this city and the federation is based on the league to glean medals in regional championships and especially in the Indian Ocean Islands Games.” Jean Herley Ambinitsoarivelo, President Malagasy Table Tennis Federation
Kaka Lawson was warmly welcomed by the presidents of local clubs who were most dynamic motivating young people.
“I fell in love with Moramanga and the work done at youth level; table tennis goes along with education, solidarity and togetherness. Table tennis is the most popular sport in the region, very unusual in Africa where football rules”, Kaka Lawson
A successful visit and Kaka Lawson is looking forward to returning to Madagascar; the second part of the visit is scheduled to take place from Monday 14th November to Monday 5th December.
