The Macao Youth Table Tennis School is a long-term training program jointly organized by the Macao Sport Development Board and the Macao Table Tennis Association. Its vision is to develop and promote the table tennis sport in Macao, search for youth table tennis players with ambitions and potentials to receive systematic long-term training, and to encourage local youths to participate in sports in order to strengthen their physique and health.
Since 2007, the academy began to search table tennis talents publicly through their annual Recruitment Day. This year, the Recruitment Day was held at Mong Ha Sport Pavilion on February 27th, attracting more than 200 boys and girls born between years 1995 and 2003 to the event. Many of the children’s parents also turned up to support for their children. The activity was conducted in a lively and harmonious atmosphere.
Based on the performance of participants, the coach team tested the speed, response and agility of the young players in groups and selected members for the adolescent class and children’s class A and B, and from those classes, those with relatively better skills were invited to participate in the advanced classes.
In an effort to enhance the students’ interest and skills, the academy had young members of Macao table tennis team serve as their teaching assistants and this has notably improved the quality of match play training . Moreover, the school held regular qualifying competitions to select students with positive attitude and better skills to participate in training camp and competitions in Zhuhai and Zhongshan, which not only greatly improved the students’ skills but also serve as a great motivation to them. Under conscientious guidance of the coaches and teaching assistants, all classes have so far made considerable progress and achieved the anticipated results in terms of the students’ attitude and skills.
Over the past four years, the Macao Youth Table Tennis School trained and provided Macao Table Tennis Association with batches after batches of young players. They achieved top results in competitions held in Macao, including wining the singles title of the elementary level at the Macao Championship as well as occupying the first four places for boys and girls singles events in the Children’s Games of Macao in the recent years. A few of the students were also selected for the Macao Sport Delegation and won second place in the doubles event of the International Children’s Games.
