A?squad?of junior table tennis players set out for Jamaica Friday with high expectations in the Caribbean Regional Table Tennis Cadet and Pre-Cadet Championships.
The tournament, which started Friday night and runs until July 25, features competition in Under-11 and Under-13 categories. Barbados will be represented in boys’ and girls’ Under-13 and the boys’ Under-11.
“We worked really hard with the team. They are ready,” coach Julia Morris told SUNSPORT on the eve of departure. “Eyes will be on Stephen (Payne) to do well. Marcus (Smith) should do quite well in the Under-11.”
Payne has spent a little more than a month training in the Dominican Republic.
He and Jazel Griffith were selected for a special high performance training camp organized by the International Table Tennis Federation for the Latin American region. After the camp last month, Payne remained in the Dominican Republic for further specialized training.
“Stephen would have learned a great deal. I know he trained very hard, but they (Dominican Republic players) would have learned a lot from him as well and his greatest challenge will come from those players,” Morris said.
“In general, I believe that this team will do well and we expect to get some medals.”
Morris, a former Caribbean Junior champion, is one of three coaches accompanying the team. The others are Trevor Farley and Carl Sealy.
Farley and Morris were among 13 local coaches who successfully completed Level Two accreditation during an ITTF course conducted earlier this month.
Morris is confident this recent experience will help her in Jamaica.
“We must constantly keep ourselves as coaches up to date in this ever changing sport. The game is evolving and so we must also raise our game as coaches if we hope to be successful in the future,” she said.
The squad
Under-13 boys: Stephen Payne, Tyrese Knight, Joshua Walcott.
Under 11 boys: Marcus Smith, Pedro Velasse, Ramon Maxwell, James MacKenzie.
Under 13 girls: Marissa Alleyne, Jazel Griffith, Erica Banfield.
Manager: Roger Maxwell.
