Mr Ama-Ebi Ebikpolade, Representative of the South-South in the Board of Nigeria Table Tennis Federation (NTTF) has disclosed that only Cross River among South-South states has a dedicated hall for table tennis (Canaan Table Tennis Club).
Ebikpolade disclosed this on Saturday in Calabar during an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) while reacting to concerns about having a table tennis league in the nation to keep the nation’s players in shape.
The board member who doubles as the Chairman of Bayelsa Table Tennis Federation said he intends to organise a table tennis league but it would be for cadet players from the South-South states.
He, however, said one of the major challenges militating against this desire was the lack of facilities for table tennis among the South-South states.
“I took a tour of the South-South states a few months ago and I discovered that the only state that has a dedicated hall for table tennis is Cross River in Calabar that is why we are supporting them.
“Other states just have makeshift halls used by other federations too, this prevents consistent training of players but we are building a world-class facility in Bayelsa.
“So, in planning the league in the South-South, I am not considering the senior players, we are only considering the cadet players because it will be difficult to change the game and mindset of senior players,” he said.
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Speaking further Ebikpolade said his plan was to first of all send 35 coaches to the states in the South-South to have programmes with cadet players and after 6 months, a league would be organised either in Bayelsa or Cross River where table tennis halls were available.
He said at the end of the six months they would gather the players together in one of the South-South states where they had enough space, camp the players for about two weeks and later have their league.
According to him, the idea of state teams travelling from their home to other States like it is done in the Nigerian Professional Football League (NPFL) is not feasible.
“You have to consider that these players are still in the cadet level and are still in school, so, you have to look for the most convenient time of the year when their studies will not be interrupted to get this done.
“It is sad that most states only support football when there is no place in the Nigerian constitution where it is stated that only football should be supported by a state or that football comes first before other sports.
“We can also argue that table tennis is the best sport in the world and should be supported more both by government and the private sector,” he maintained.
Converseer reports that the Canaan Table Tennis Club building was a brain project of Rt. Hon. Orok Duke, who was at that the Chairman of Table Tennis in the state.