by Ian Marshall, ITTF Publications Editor

Now, as the month comes to a conclusion a further initiative has been included in his itinerary; from Sunday 19th to Sunday 26th November, he conducted an ITTF Level Three Course.

Overall 12 coaches attended, principally from Sri Lanka but notably Y.V. Pradeep travelled from Dubai, and Khondoker Al-Mostafa Billah from Bangladesh.

“The Coaches from Sri Lanka were indeed an unique group of participants as all had previously taken the ITTF Level Three Course in 2015 and had not passed the exam. However good coaches are also good students and these coaches wanted badly to acquire the knowledge needed to work with high level athletes, so they once again gave up their time to attend the course.” Richard McAfee

A challenge and an even greater challenge in that translation was needed; thankfully on this occasion, Richard McAfee had the services of Wajira Wickramasinghe and Chathura Dushan, Sri Lankan coaches, who acted as translators. They had been members of the first Level Three Course staged in 2016 in India; both had travelled at their own expense to attend.

Now at their second attempt both passed.

“The knowledge and determination displayed by Wajira Wickramasinghe and Chathura Dushan helped fellow coaches get through, it made all the difference as this time all of the coaches passed and four passed with the high marks required to take a future Level Four Course. ” Richard McAfee

Three courses completed; now one more task before Richard McAfee departs; he will conduct a Sri Lankan National Team Training Camp from Tuesday 28th to Saturday 2nd December.