The Oceania Talent Team have wrapped up their time in Auckland, New Zealand where they undertook a 5-day training camp and 2-day competition. The Oceania Talent Team members were:
MEN: Sharky Itaia (Nauru), Geoffrey Loi (Papua New Guinea), Joshua Yee (Fiji).
WOMEN: Tammi Agari (Papua New Guinea), Tracey Mawa (Vanuatu), Maria Poila (Cook Islands).
The delegation was led and coached by the Oceania Development Officers – Ocean Belrose and Hongbo Liang. The training camp focused on building technical, tactical and mental skills with the short-term aim of increasing the quality and quantity of players from Oceania, and a long-term aim of increasing the number of Oceania Member Associations who qualify for benchmark events such as the World Championships and Olympic Games. The competition was the Auckland Open, which served to provide valuable match practice given the players usually face difficulties in accessing regular quality competition. In true Oceania style, throughout the week the players built up great camaraderie and they will return home having forged a strong bond between the team members.
Reflecting on the week, Belrose commented “I am very pleased with the player’s commitment during the training camp, and their participation in both the training camp and the Auckland Open has given them valuable knowledge and international experience. It has been a real pleasure to coach them throughout this week.”
Liang was also optimistic, stating “there is definitely untapped potential in Oceania. Our players face difficulties to leave their home country with cost of travel and geographic isolation providing significant barriers. We need to continue to invest in their development if we are to lift the level throughout Oceania. I hope this trip has provided the players with a great experience and they return home motivated to go to the next level.”
ITTF-Oceania acknowledges the support of the Australian Government through its PacificAus Sports partnership with the Australian Olympic Committee, created to provide Pacific athletes with access to high-performance training and elite competition. Without this financial support, the Oceania Talent Team trip to Auckland would not have been possible. ITTF-Oceania is pleased to provide opportunities for senior athletes and hope that this initiative will become an annual occurrence.
Congratulations to all team members.
Note: This funding must be used for athletes aged over 18 years old, and is not available for athletes from Australia, New Zealand, French territories and USA territories.