Successful High Performance and Development Workshop staged in association with the ITTF Foundation

by Dora Jeler, ITTF High Performance and Development Operations Manager

The workshop commenced with an introduction to the department and its initiatives, quickly leading into a review of last year’s development initiatives in continents and an overview of planned projects yet to come.

High Performance and Development has been identified as one of the five key objectives of the ITTF in the newly adopted Strategic Plan, the department will see a significant increase of available funds that will go towards engagement with Continental Federations and National Associations.

Another significant innovation is the revision of the Coach Accreditation Scheme. There will be a complete revamp of the current system, enabling coaches globally to become certified and educated through a mix of blended and face-to-face learning.

After a short break, the panellists of the High Performance Outreach Session were introduced:

Shi Zhihao (China) – ITTF Executive Vice President in charge of High Performance and former World Champion coach
Zoran Primorac (Croatia) – Olympic and World Championship medalist
Christian Holtz (Australia) – ITTF Oceania Chief Executive Officer
Massimo Costantini (Italy) – India National Team Head Coach
Gordon Kaye (United States) – United States Chief Executive Officer and North America Table Tennis Union President
Urban Johnson (Sweden) – Professor Halmstad University

Hotly discussed topics focused on the changes needed in order to achieve High Performance not only in a few countries of the world but in all 226 member associations.

It was agreed that he globalisation of competitiveness could only be achieved if knowledge is shared and passed on between players, coaches and National Associations.