by Ian Marshall, ITTF Publications Manager
Venue for the whole course was the Institut National de la Jeunesse et des Sports (the Sport and Youth National Institute), a venue administered by the Chad Olympic and Sport Committee; premises which in addition to table tennis host such sports as basketball, boxing and gymnastic, Nicolas Guigon was the nominated expert on duty to conduct the course.
Elected President of the Chad Olympic and Sport Committee, some six months ago, Abakar Djermah, a former judo international, has highlighted eight sports in a current programme. Table tennis is included. Furthermore, he is well aware of promoting sports and the effects of social media.
“Communication is a key factor in sport development. I want members from our communication team at every Olympic Solidarity Technical Courses. I want to see reports in the daily news Facebook page Comité Olympique et Sportif du Tchadien”. Abakar Djermah
Similar to many other developing countries, Chad has great potential to advance table tennis.
“It is the second biggest country of the eight after Congo Kinshasa in the Central Africa region. It is geographically well placed between Nigeria and Egypt, Africa’s leading table tennis nations. Chad athletes are renowned in combat sports.” Nicolas Guigon
A total of 13 students, of whom six were women reached the required standard; Roland Laokole will now supervise their practical coaching in order to gain certification.
The education part of the visit concluded; next on the agenda was a three day Training Camp which commenced on Monday 11th June; a total of 12 players aged 11 years to 17 years of age attended; the concluding day being dedicated to a tournament.
Players and coaches received a donation from the Ping Sans Frontières which included 20 items of clothing, the same number of racket coverings and second hand rackets kindly given by clubs in Paris and by the Mulhouse Table Tennis Association.
