14 May 2021

Delivering targeted support to Member Associations through Continental Agreements using a comprehensive and objective needs-based model that identifies an Association’s individual development requirements was one of the eleven objectives that were set in the 2018-2024 ITTF Strategic Plan within the High Performance and Development focus, also identified among the top five strategic priorities.

Today, we are delighted and proud to announce that we are bringing this initiative to life in the form of a brand-new Participation program, which forms a newly introduced pillar of the 2021-2024 ITTF Development Plan.

“The challenging times of a global pandemic forced us to adjust our original plans slightly; at the same time, however, they prompted us to be even more creative and innovative, resulting in a very new approach in regard to the hybrid support that we are now offering to the Member Associations – besides the traditional and always very much needed financial funding we are also “digitalising” our services, which is very much possible thanks to the promising cooperation that we have established with Pingprofy and Stupa Analytics.” Polona Cehovin, ITTF High Performance & Development Director

The Participation Program aims at bringing precious added value to the ITTF’s pursuit of comprehensive and sustainable development of our sport on a national level, as it is targeting Member Associations directly.

“We are confident that every single Member Association will find something of their interest among the MA Services menu and also be able to top up what they have already been doing so far.” Steve Dainton, ITTF CEO

The Program has been initiated with the intention of adequately and significantly complementing the other High Performance & Development Department programs running on regional, continental and global level, which, two years after their introduction, have undergone a review and will be announced and rolled out as soon as the global circumstances will allow.

“The new Participation Program will enable more Member Associations than ever before to connect with and take advantage of the services we offer. It also shows our commitment to digitalisation with the innovations we introduced in the form of our ITTF Online Services via Pingprofy and our embracing of Artificial Intelligence through Stupa Analytics” Yelena Druzhkova, ITTF Head of Participation

Based on the firm belief that good relations and development are closely connected, the program has been undertaken with a holistic approach at the core, underlined by the close cooperation of the High Performance & Development and Member Relations departments within the ITTF. Good relations are a precondition for development to occur, and the same is true vice versa – good relations are, to a big extent, a matter of development.

“The ITTF aims to work closely with all its Member Associations by offering a brand new Participation Program, built by a dedicated team and based on the tangible and realistic difficulties faced by all our MAs.” Mounir Bessah, ITTF Member Relations Director

For more details, please refer to the ITTF Participation Program brochure here.

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