Oslo based Swedish table tennis tacticians Jan Berner and Nina Jeletich today visited the Oshwal Junior TT camp and donated an assortment of equipment to the “Let the Girls Shine” programme of MYSA.
Kenya Table Tennis Association (KTTA) Chairman Andrew Mudibo while receiving the donation from the Swedish duo said the equipment will go a long way in bolstering the fortunes of the girls program which will soon spread it’s tentacles to the lakeside county of Kisumu where more donations will be channeled to .
Mudibo revealed that the equipment will also go as far a field as Kitale town which incidentally is “the cradle of the girls game in the country”.
Kitale production line has given rise to some of the best girl table tennis players including Gloria Sigowo and Valencia Cheptoo who represented Kenya at various international assignments.
“I wish to thank Berner and Nina for this generous contribution to the girls program. Kenya Table Tennis Association will distribute the equipment in a very transparent manner and for the good of the game. On behalf of KTTA we would once again take this opportunity to say thank you for boosting this noble initiative under Tucheze Tebo programme which we launched a few years ago to try and bring the level of the game to desirable heights . Kenya will be hosting the ITTF Africa Top 16 Cup and we would have the privilege of having you and Nina as our special guests.” Mudibo said.
Present during the short clinic conducted by Berner and Nina was legendary former longstanding Kenya Champion Fahd Daim who is also the Association Secretary General.
Thirteen year old Kavan Gudka and his 12 year old teammate Dav Shah took time to thank the two philanthropic coaches for imparting some valuable experience to the juniors.
“Thank you for sacrificing your time to come and teach us how to employ new tricks in the game.” said Dav.
Berner said the donation is a generous support from his family and Swedish Club (Halmstad BTK).
He said his family and club will continue to support the girls program which seeks to qualify the first Kenyan female player to the Olympic Games.
“This has come from me, family and club and we very enthusiastic about it. I hope the equipment will be useful to the girls program as they seek to make Kenya proud at the highest level, ” said Berner.
Learn About Jan Berner
“I am Swedish but I live in Oslo City in Norway. We just came to Kenya last night so we haven’t seen much of the country. Tomorrow we will have an excursion in and out of the city so we are looking forward to it.
We are here for a short visit but I’m glad the President of KTTA Mr Mudibo has invited us to the ITTF African Top 16 so we will have more time to interact and practice with the juniors and coaches.
In Sweden I represent Halmstad BTK which is one of the biggest clubs there. But at the moment I’m living in Norway. I’m an independent Coach at the moment but I have also worked with ITTF: been to many countries in Africa to try and raise the level of the sport. The most important thing in Kenya at the present is for the country to run as many coaching education courses in order to bring up the level of the game and probably take it to the next level. We should try and bring in as many juniors as possible to raise our bar higher. I have been involved in many ITTF courses in Africa to try and promote and develop the game and the coaches to the next level. Oshwal I’d one of the best halls I have seen in Africa where many juniors play the game. “