With less than a year to go to the Durban 2023 World Table Tennis Championships Finals, the ITTF and the South Africa Table Tennis Board are already working on building a heritage for table tennis in the country and also the region.

The ITTF High Performance and Development, alongside the Southern African Region, and the South Africa Table Tennis Board, held a Competition Managers course at the Garden Court Milpark in Johannesburg from Monday 4^th to Wednesday 6^th July.

Mohamed El-Dawlatly, ITTF Competition Services Manager, provided training for 19 aspiring competition managers from seven South African nations.

“As a region we are interested in improving the packaging of table tennis so as to improve the presentation of our sport we love dearly. We are very optimistic that upon achieving our objectives and will be able to attract sponsors.” Motswagole Kudzanani (Southern Africa Region Technical Director)

“The interaction with others was interesting. Organised in an excellent atmosphere, the seminar made me understand the different strengths and weaknesses of the region. I hope to share the knowledge gained with members of my association.” Wisdom Kaunda (Zambia)

“I gained a lot from the seminar, draw procedure, scheduling, registration process, cancellations, and changes. This knowledge will be instrumental in helping me as a competition manager to make good decisions for the future.” Floriano Massah (Malawi)

“The seminar content was vital for our region as most participants learnt a lot. It was an eye-opener, it made me appreciate the use of ICT (Information and Communications Technology) and all the ITTF systems.” Reitumetse Maome (Lesotho)

“I will organise a seminar like this in Zimbabwe. I will design a tailor-made ITC system to help us in managing our entries and build profiles for athletes, coaches, umpires as well as managers. I will also encourage and educate athletes on games ratio in the event of ties. I now know how to stage major events for media coverage; how to educate media teams on where to position cameras and educate umpires on how they should present themselves when officiating. Generally, the seminar was of great importance to us in Zimbabwe and the region at large,” Tinashe Duri (Zimbabwe).

“As an aspiring gold badge umpire and technical official in my country, I was interested in getting to know what happens during the planning stage of a tournament. The seminar was an eye-opener. I have learnt how to make different types of draws; schedule matches and understand the detailed role of the competition manager. I also got to understand the purpose of the WTT on the ITTF structure. Most interestingly the OVR (On Venue Results system) and OES (Online Entry System) systems reduce manual work which is currently done and will result in fewer mistakes,” Ritah Sebele (Botswana)

Hosting events brings extensive benefits to a country and its table tennis community. It is a golden chance for the nation’s leading players to measure their skills against the very best on planet earth. It is also a major opportunity to promote the sport of table tennis, but also to support member associations and leave a lasting impact that transcends the field of play.

Establishing a legacy is key and it begins long before the event begins.