The ITTF GJP Blog

There  were days when i firmly believed that i could walk on water..Not literally – but surely from a coaching point of view.  Checking in for my sixth ITTF Cadet Challenge,  my hotel room in Helsingborg is just beside the very same  ferry terminal that used to be such a breaking point of my life.. Twenty five minutes,  took me either to work,  as the national coach in Denmark,  or coming the other way brought me home to my family. I must have made the trip over or back some 1000 times over the seven years i  worked in Denmark between 1988 and 1995. Emotional it is.. In my white Saab 9000 – standing right here in line outside my window i did do some thinking – that’s for sure.

I was young – hot and ambitious. I thought i could move players forward - make them think differently – become better and all of that. The year was 1988 and i started to commute from my home in Halmstad , Sweden to the training center in Denmark. Remember writing a long article  following the decision to get out and break my contract after the seven years. The text is still in fresh memory and the titles sums up the years i spent in Denmark ; Seven Years as the General and Front-soldier. With my players we digged in – worked hard – had disappointments ,  but more importantly paved the way for some young talented Danes to move in when we eventually  left the scene.

Back to the walking on water… The ITTF has done marvellous things for young players and really shown them – their coaches and their associations a possible way forward. Sometimes and more so lately i get the feeling that the players we support are swimming more and more alone. Its obvious that the national and the continetal assocations desperatly needs to get their act in order to give the young striving athletes the proper support and managment.

I hate to see the ITTF stand alone – owning suddenly the 100 % repsonbsibiliteis for young supported players. We cannot walk on water and we cannot become the driver of the bus.

On site in Sweden are some very intersting young players.. Adem HMAM – the young tunisian still looks like a round million if you look at this stroke technique alone. Ariel HSING- the hard working and eager girl from Northern California practised well today.  Also look for the fifteen year old young girls Nadeen El Dewlatly from Egypt to become something fresh and interesting in the  very near future. There are , as i am always pointing out - no shortage of talents out there.

The ITTF Cadet Challenge is a great event. Idrottens HUS – here in Helsingborg is the  perfect arena  with the stone walls breathing great table tennis.  One of the very first international events held in this building was the Scandinavian Open – SOC in 1960. Some of the key voulonteers with BTK Rekord still remember those days. From my pint of view i remember coaching one of the best matches i have ever seen with a ninteen year old Jorgen Persson defeating Jan Ove Waldner in five games in the 1984 Swedish Championships.