On a recent holiday in beautiful Slovensko I met a couple of table tennis players who have invited me to come back in August. The plan will be to visit the cities of Zilina and Ruzomberok while playing a match in both clubs. I was very impressed with the club conditions and the coaching available.
Because countries like Slovakia don't have national sports like GAA they appear to be able to throw more cash into Table Tennis and seem to attract more juniors. In Ireland, many of our potential juniors are attracted to GAA due to family and community involvement.
This has major implications for minority sports as we do not have the same pulling power as big organisations and high profile sports such as Rugby and Soccer.
In the meantime I will begin preparation to try and beat my Slovakian counterparts. I always like to show other nationalities that Ireland can be no walk over when it comes to ping pong.
JB
Because countries like Slovakia don't have national sports like GAA they appear to be able to throw more cash into Table Tennis and seem to attract more juniors. In Ireland, many of our potential juniors are attracted to GAA due to family and community involvement.
This has major implications for minority sports as we do not have the same pulling power as big organisations and high profile sports such as Rugby and Soccer.
In the meantime I will begin preparation to try and beat my Slovakian counterparts. I always like to show other nationalities that Ireland can be no walk over when it comes to ping pong.
JB
RSS Feed