An all star line-up of entertainers came out last Saturday night at the Table Tennis Centre, Nursery Drive, Bridgetown, to support the Mistah Dale & Friends Ping Pong Charity Fete – a R.E.A.L (Rally Everyone Against Lawlessness) Foundation initiative benefiting the Barbados Table Tennis Association (BTTA).
It targets children between the ages of seven and 17 to mentor, assist and guide them either through sports or entertainment.
Entertainer Dale (Mistah Dale) Rudder told the DAILY NATION the event was not only to celebrate the juniors of the BTTA returning from the Caribbean Championships with bronze and gold medals, but an opportunity to raise money to train and develop more youths in the sport.
The former tennis champion and current table tennis coach was supported by friends, including Scorpio, Sanctuary, Statement, Natahlee, Richard Antoine (formerly known as Rusty), Red Plastic Bag, Dirty Versee and Lil Rick, in front of a small but very enthusiastic crowd.
An appreciative Rudder, who is also the BTTA’s second vice-president, said: “I would like to extend heartfelt thanks and gratitude [for the artistes] who passed through and [blessed] our charity event with their amazing presence.
“This is our first event and one which we wish to build from strength to strength upon to aid in the youth development, the facility and overall awareness of the sport.
“The Father already smiled upon us because the kids returned from the Caribbean Championships securing bronze in team and gold in junior male singles. We’ve indeed started on a huge positive and have already started to reap the rewards.”
However, he pointed out that “we are a stage that is a crossroad”.
“We need to get the kids focused. We need serious attention on building, mentoring, developing and guiding them. We have a great set of kids but the problem is resources, so we are hoping to raise the money for such a drive. We need to get the kids going in a positive direction.”
Henderson Allen-Smith, one of the organizers of the event and father of the reigning Caribbean Under-13 champion, Marcus Smith, noted that Barbados used to be a “powerhouse” in table tennis years ago but then “lost it”.
“We are anxious to reclaim that and we can do better but the youth are not as well supported as they could be. We are parents of some really talented children. They do well locally and regionally but they fall short at the international level because of the lack of exposure. So, we need to put a development programme in place . . . make them competitive on that level,” Allen-Smith said.