NSC ‘Teach them Young’ TT Vacation Camp …Nat Table Tennis Coach Johnson loves working with youths

Jul 18, 2017 Sports, http://www.kaieteurnewsonline....working-with-youths/

By Sean Devers
This year’s Guyana Table Tennis Association (GTTA) and National Sports Commission (NSC) ‘Teach them Young’ School Vacation Camp commenced last week Monday at the National Gymnasium and will conclude on August 11 and after one week National Table Tennis Coach Linden Johnson is pleased with what he is seeing.
“I am pleased with the progress so far, we have just over 40 students and about eighty percent of them have never played Table Tennis. We had kids from Berbice and Essequibo last week but due to the issue with the escaped prisoners some parents did not want to take the chance of sending their children from so far. We expect some from Bartica and Linden this week,” disclosed the 55 year-old Johnson.
Johnson got involved in table tennis administration in the late 80’s through encouragement by friends and family and over two decades on he still has the love and drive to continue in the sport and help it to grow.
“We have children from five to 18 years old and the main objective of this programme, is to the spread of the game and generate the interest for the sport at a young age. If it can produce an outstanding talent or two, that would be a bonus. The whole aim here is to teach them basic skills, prepare them for future tournaments, identify talent, develop healthy competition and make the game fun for them,” explained Johnson.
From 1985 to now, Johnson has worked with top players like Trenace Lowe, Zach Gonsalves; Jonathan Sankar, Edinho Lewis, Matthew Khan, Christopher Franklin, Jody-Ann Blake, Michelle John, Natalie Cummings, Joseph Johnson, Sunil Logan, Gibran Sarfaraz, Vikash Panday, Priyanna Ramdhani, Nigel Bryan, Joel Alleyne, Warren Hackshaw, Elishaba Johnson, Jamaal Duff, Stefan Corlette, Akeicia Nedd, Kristie Lopes, Chelsea Edghill, Kyle Edghill, Shemar Britton, Selenas Jackman, Khalil Ninvalle, Terrance Rausch, Kaysan Ninvalle and Niron Bissu.
Among the responsibilities of Johnson is the running off of Beginners programmes which has seen the unearthing of many of the table tennis talents across Guyana and Training of Teachers as supervisory coaches to conduct school programmes.
“Although I am now tasked with training and development of Guyana national teams and Development of national development Plan, I still enjoy working with the little one at these camps which has produced many of Guyana’ best players” revealed Johnson, the winner of the 2015 National Award for Sports Coach of the Year.
Johnson, who in 2011 completed the ITTF Level 2 coaching course in Trinidad & Tobago, the ITTF Basic Umpires and Basic Referees Course along with the Special Olympic Coach Certification Programme in Guyana, informed that a key feature of this camp will be the staging of a Novices category which is geared to attract the players participating in the Camp.
“We are catering for 65 students and it is not too late to register for participation in this year’s Camp and parents desirous of doing so can call 621-7630 or 231-0988,” Johnson informed.
Johnson has a passion for working with youngsters. In 2007 he worked with the U-10 boys and girls, U-13 boys and girls and U-15 boys and girls in Santo Domingo where Guyana finished with five (5) medals. In 2008 he coached the U-15 and U-18 boys and girls teams that were successful in the Caribbean Table Tennis Championships at home.
Johnson emphasized the importance of camps like these when school is closed for the introduction of Table Tennis to those as young as five years old and singled out 11-year-old Kaysan Ninvalle, the youngest player to receive a National Junior Sportsman of the Year Award, as a perfect example of how a table tennis player so young can inspire and motivate others his age to strive for excellence.
“I have been able to see a few places due to my involvement in Table Tennis and Camps like these open doors for those who are focused, disciplined, committed and who are prepared to work hard. Attendance is also important since only those with a ninety percent or above attendance will be issued with certificates,” Johnson stressed.
Table Tennis has taken Johnson to the Central American and Caribbean Games in Colombia, Islamic Table Tennis Championship in Iran, Mini Cadet, Pre Cadet, Cadet, Junior and Senior Caribbean Championships in the Caribbean, ITTF Junior Circuit in Cuba and Colombia, Latin American Junior Qualifier in Colombia, Commonwealth Youth Games in India, South American Youth Games in Peru, Inter Guiana Games in Suriname and French Guiana National Table Tennis League in French Guiana.