Branton Matondo
Aspiring Table tennis coaches in Manicaland will have the chance to sharpen their coaching skills in the sport as the province is set to host a two day engagement at Moffat Hall in Sakubva, Mutare as a way to enable grassroots development and expansion of coaching expertise.
The two day course will run from January 27-28.
Though the sport is already a major code in other SADC countries such as South Africa, Zambia and Botswana, Zimbabwe still lags behind when it comes to coaching and development at grassroots level.
Manicaland will be looking forward to shrink that gap as it launches the first of many coaching courses to be held across the province.
In an interview, International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) level 1 certificate holder and club coach William Machacha who is also one of the coordinators said the courses are meant for teachers within Manicaland as a way to develop the sport.
“On the 27th and 28th of January we are going to have provincial level one coaching course for all teachers from primary and secondary schools. I am going to facilitate the course since I am the only high level coach in the province,” said Machacha.
The course will be going for US$ 30 per participant.
Club international level one qualified coaches Kudakwashe Madoro and Vannesa Muchayi will also be part of the coordinating team.
“Our target is to cover all Manicaland districts by end of March. This means that we will be engaging with Nyanga, Chipinge, Rusape and Chimanimani. Come end of year we will also carry out national level one coaching and umpiring course,” added Machacha.
Zimbabwe Table Tennis Union Coaches Commission technical director Kudakwashe Madoro placed his comment on nothing but development of table tennis through the courses.
“This will be a provincial coaching and umpiring course. We would like to take table tennis from grass roots level. It’s a no holds bar course meaning people willing to be part of the course are most welcome,” said Madoro.
Table tennis has for long been overshadowed by other mainstream sports like football, cricket and rugby.
Funding has been a major drawback for a sport that boasts of vast opportunities in the eastern parts of the world.
Poor sponsorship has barred Zimbabwe from participating in regional tournaments the latest being an invitation to Botswana Table Tennis Association (BTTA) held last month.
Manicaland during the final fold of 2022 managed to hold an open tourney at Mutare Girls High School from November 26-27.
The tourney attracted participants from Mashonaland East and Harare provinces as well as Mutare.
