2 weeks ago
6
Joshua Seemungal
With the country’s contingent seeking to do Trinidad and Tobago proud at the Junior Pan American Games in Paraguay – which started yesterday – Guardian Media Sports understands that an internal dispute in the Table Tennis Association is threatening to potentially undermine the table tennis team’s preparations and chances.
The association’s executive is being accused by former association members, as well as past and present national coaches, of overriding decisions made through long-established policies.
According to the complainants, the executive’s actions are putting a sport that’s already facing challenges locally in further trouble.
The inclusion of a foreign coach as part of the national team, at the request of a teenage player heading to Paraguay, has caused unrest in the association, resulting in the resignation of the chairman of the election committee, David Williams, as well as other members, including a vice-president.
According to Williams, the established policy before heading to tournaments is for the selection committee to vote on the local coaches who will form part of the travelling team.
“There is an issue with a foreign coach. Now this coach, from what I understand, is the person, more or less, assigned to see about a T&T player who is based in France. In the last Junior Caribbean Championships, where Aleena Edwards was the head coach, he came there, and apparently, there was a big issue because he wanted to coach, despite not being selected as a national team coach.
“The selection committee, we had to pick a coach for the Pan American Games that are coming up. We are all local coaches. There was a democratic process by which a player and her father wanted this coach, and we said no, we have our local coaches. They were outvoted by almost 2 to 1. Yet, that person’s name was still submitted, and that person is still going with the team,” Williams said.
According to former national coach and Paralympic player Dennis La Rose, who is currently hospitalised with a serious leg issue, the executive is going about things in the wrong way, pushing people involved in the sport’s foundation away.
Another association source, who spoke anonymously, said there’s growing frustration and disappointment within the local table tennis fraternity, and especially the coaching community, regarding the way recent decisions have been handled by both the Table Tennis Association and the Trinidad and Tobago Olympic Committee.
“Over the years, Trinidad and Tobago has invested significantly in developing one of the most qualified coaching bases in the Caribbean, with several active ITTF Level 3 coaches consistently contributing to local and regional success. Yet, despite this, a foreigner who was chosen without undergoing the proper vetting or meeting national certification standards will be allowed to serve in a coaching capacity for national athletes at a major event, the Jr Pan American Games in Paraguay. This is viewed as a serious breach of protocol and a blatant show of disrespect to local coaches who have dedicated years to their certification and the sport’s development,” the source said.
According to the source, legitimate questions by members of the fraternity are being shut down by the executive.
“The response is often silence or, worse, threats aimed at silencing dissent and having them removed from club chats when probed on getting clarity on stuff and information. That’s not how a national sporting body should function in a democratic sporting environment.
“There is a perception and growing concern that decisions regarding coaching and managerial team appointments are being influenced by personal biases rather than objective criteria. This has led to local coaches, especially those once in national roles, being systematically sidelined. If this continues, it renders the international certification programmes meaningless. Anyone with the right connections could be handpicked to represent the country, regardless of qualification, experience, or contribution to the sport. As well as one person on the executive body can elect themselves to travel with teams without proper transparency taking place,” the source complained.
The senior association member said the Pan American coaching issue reflects a breakdown in structure, communication and respect.
“If not addressed urgently, it risks dismantling years of development, alienating qualified professionals, and damaging the credibility of Trinidad and Tobago table tennis on the regional and global stage from the head down,” the source said.
French-based T&T five-time Caribbean champion national player Rheann Chung also weighed in on the issue, saying in all her years she and her stepfather, the late great two-time Olympian Dexter St Louis, have never disrespected the local table tennis coaches by secretly bringing in their personal coaches to any international team competitions.
“Last year’s 2024 Caribbean Senior Championships, I was shocked to personally witness the presence of a foreign guy called Alexander ‘Sasha’ Gillen moving around with a female player and her father… Everyone was shocked to see Gillen because no one knew of him, only to see him well integrated into the TTO team.
“I witnessed her warming up all the time with the guy, neglecting the rest of her teammates. During our team matches, he was coaching Fraser from the stands while the local coach was on the bench. Alexander Gillen was also coaching her in the singles events. The same, I was told, happened in the Caribbean Juniors, which ran right after the seniors. The local coaches present were humiliated, very hurt and disrespected,” Chung said.
She said it is unacceptable that the foreign coach is being allowed to secretly travel with a National Junior team again, this time for the upcoming Junior Pan American Games.
According to the T&T head coach’s report for the 27th Youth Table Tennis Championships, which was held in the Dominican Republic in April 2024, there were coaching and accommodation issues.
The Association registered Aleena Edwards as head coach, with Andrew Edwards, Dennis La Rose and Linda Partap-Boodhan as assistant coaches.
Edwards reported that the coaching group was concerned by the presence of an unknown coach accompanying a female player.
“They all highlighted their disgust with her, with her not warming up with her teammates for the matches. There were incidents where the coach would have interfered with Malik during his team matches and then the singles match, where coaching was done from the stands. As Head Coach, and after hearing the concerns and begging for clarity of the role of Mr Gillen, I was informed that a decision and approval was given by management for his expertise. But when questioned, three executive members all seemed not to have a clue what I was asking and informed me that no approval was given.
“Coach La Rose, who felt very slighted and disrespected in the team match, where he was coaching Malik and suddenly Malik ignored all his advice and continued to look in the stands to get advice from Gillen, made it clear to me that he was not accepting the disrespect, as Malik was going fine until he started to get distracted from the stands. After that match, I walked up to Gillen to explain to him that I had never experienced such disrespect in my life, and nowhere in the world can an accompanying person come and coach any player over their national coach. Which means he totally disrespected the assigned national coaches on duty,” Edwards wrote.
In response to Guardian Media Sport’s questions, the Table Tennis Association President Sharon Bravo-Phillip confirmed that the association permitted the foreign coach, Gillen, to accompany the team to the Pan American Games in Paraguay.
“The two athletes going to the Pan Am Games are foreign-based, and he has been their coach for over a year, and it has been at the request of the athlete. At this juncture, and at a particular type of tournament, they think that they will get better results because they have trained with him longer. Because of the nature of that level,” she said.
Asked if she believed the coach’s presence could impact team harmony and performance at the tournament, she said, “No, no, definitely not. We have a coaching committee. We have, by right, even for safeguarding – even though there’s a process, we still need to listen because we are athlete-centred and do what’s best for the athlete. Especially if we want them to perform at their highest.
“Originally, yes, it was a local coach that was going with them, and they then wrote to us, and we had a meeting, and we got consultation that, especially at this stage, it’s because they are minors – their mental health and their safety will trump and will have to be taken into consideration,” she said.
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