What it takes for a nation to win a Grand Slam event in modern table tennis
It all start with Mao decreting in the early 50’s that table tennis would be China’s national sport. This marked a disrupting move as TT was played by amateur/tennis players in major events.
And as all those kind of decisions, it starts at… school. So China built the most efficient sport training system for youth. There was already a strong appeal for this sport in China and in 1959 with Jung Kuotan China knew they made the right decision.
The system delivered a generation later, as always, with Hsi Enting, Guo Yehua and Jiang Jialiang. For the women’s it’s been longer to develop, with Qiu Zhonghui being the first chinese world champion in 1961, but then it’s been a 10 years drought until 1971.
What am I using this example ?
1- it has to be a nation’s will, a government’s will, or a tyran’s will (like Mao was) now in the modern sport era to win
2- it always start with youth, and if possible at elementary school.
Billionaires don’t do that, sorry Tony, but they don’t. The UTT is like Bollywood transfered in Table Tennis, I mean… the last time I’ve played with so much lights effects and so on I had a…n electric bass and was playing professionaly to make a living.
I’ll take France, my country, as an example to show ya how it works.
For football you already know : the president Charles De Gaulle made the decision. It had to start with a national academy giving orders to decentralized academies all over the country.
For table tennis, the FFTT created the Premier Pas Pongiste in 1970, you can translate it as the TT First Step. Only for elementary schools and kindergarten (starting at 4). The goal was to tell the clubs all over the country they could organize an event for schools, with a bit of training before for the kids interested in it. There were local tournaments, then departemental tournaments for the winners, then regional, then… national ! In fact it quickly became the Youth French Nationals as kids like Gatien, Legoût and Lebrun won the PPP nationals. The system delivered in 1993 with Gatien. In 1991, the FFTT was a bit concerned cos’ only cllubs player were winning the titles, so the PPP was only opened for non-club players. There were already the academies named Sports Etudes at that time, now known as Pôles Espoir, academies so ! Same as the football system.
You also have to organize leagues, I mean… not only one for already top 100 pros, you have to organize a pyramidal system of leagues with promotions and relegations. In basket-ball for the USA, the AAU is the governing body for any kids. an amateur governing body by the way. Then they have to compete between themselves for high schools and colleges that have a basketball program. They don’t fight as amateur teams like Montpellier or Bruille did in table tennis to get to the pro A. and that’s the problem the NBA is now facing : no team fundamentals, athleticism and skills for sure, but a lack of IQ for team basketball science.
Bruille is a village, a tiny village, only 1500 inhabitants. They started low at departemal levels, then got pro, then amateur again being relegated, and now pro again ! How ? Not with billionnaires Tony, with the Coton family for sure (as the Lebrun’s one). They got here with a socialist system, the taxes you pay builds the sports heroes in france, not that bad considering France is only 80 millions populated, compared to the billion etc in India.
Why do you see « Lorient » printed on GV Hennebont nets ? Because the Lorient public administration known as Lorient Agglomération actually pays subsidies for GV Hennebont, it’s still the taxpayers so. What happens when a billionaire is fed up with the project ? He lefts the building, in chaos most of the time, that’s what happened to Jura Morez, the exception in french pro TT.
In handball, France was doing so-so in the 2nd world division in the 80’s, so how France became the n°1 nation in handball ? I’ve played handball at my elementary school in the 70’s/80’s see what I mean ? Same as football, same as TT, the french handball association built a new project based on youth first. The system delivered in 1995 with the first world title, and then others, and then Olympics titles, and so on. Men and Women, like China in TT, like the USA in basketball.
All those national associations/federations are getting their subsidies from the french government.. yeah the taxpayers, me included. Always the same : start young, organize leagues with promotions and relegations, organize events at schools.
In my high school in the 80’s there were 3 major events all year long : students vs teachers games in handball, basketball and football.
The teachers were mostly sport teachers, meaning they were not overweight, sport teachers here are people who couldn’t make it at in their sport at the pro level, that’s the only difference. You’re gonna tell « not fair, teens U16 vs adults ? Come on... » well… the last 2 years in that high school (been there 4 years) we saw something was changing in the french sports : handball my friends won 11-10 vs the teachers the 1st year, then.. I can’t remember but it was a butchery for the poor teachers, basket-ball… win again the last year, and football… don’t ask math teachers aged 40 to run like 15 years old students playing football after lunch EVERY DAY in the open air handball field right in the middle of the school ! It’s like basketball in the US, got a ball ? Football !
The last year it was something like 10-3 for the students…
This is how you win gold medals Tony, not with billionaires.
Click to view the GIF
tenor.com
