FOLLOWING an action-packed weekend for Jersey’s table tennis stars, head coach Miguel Freitas was glowing with praise for the “magnificent” performance of his young stars.
The JTTA competed in both the Channel Island Championships and the inter-insular contest in Guernsey over the weekend, with the latter going the way of the Sarnians.
Despite the hosts regaining the title after Jersey’s success on home soil last year, the Caesarean juniors put on an excellent display to keep their side in the contest.
Freitas said: “Last weekend was a great success for our younger players. I thought they held themselves excellently.
“It’s never easy for such young minds to cope with the pressure of good-level competition, especially with the crowds we received in Guernsey.
“All our athletes, from under-11 right through to under-18 were magnificent and showed the potential Jersey has moving forward.”
Of the seven junior trophies available in the CI Championships last Friday, Jersey laid claim to six of them, covering U13s, U15 boys and girls, and U18 men’s, women’s and doubles.
A particular highlight came from both William Cornthwaite and John Le Fondre, who won the U15 and U18 singles titles respectively, before teaming up to take the U18 men’s doubles crown.
“It’s been a challenging few months for the club, particularly the junior section,” continued Freitas.
“With the damage from Storm Ciarán wiping out our home at the Geoff Reed Centre, we had to find alternative arrangements.
“We were very grateful to make Fort Regent our home since February of this year. It’s been the ideal location for us and has enabled us to be able to continue our training.
“Considering our results over the weekend, particularly from the juniors, it’s clear that our ability to continue their recent training wenta long way to helping those
successes, along with their outstanding commitment and dedication.”
The likes of Cornthwaite and Le Fondre, alongside the outstanding talent of U18 CI champion Freya Allaway and U15 champion Esther Lewis, are blessed with the role models at their disposal through the JTTA system.
The likes of two-time Island Games gold medallist Jordan Wykes and recently crowned English Secondary Schools U19 champion Hannah Silcock, have gone on to achieve outstanding personal success on the big stage, showing the youth of Jersey table tennis that there is a clear pathway for them to achieve elite status.
The head coach added: “We have had excellent success through those two. Their achievements in recent times have added such a spark to the sport on Island and our kids are so inspired by their success.
“I have always believed as a coach that we have the potential on Island to have players reach high levels, starting with the way they train.
“We always try and use both junior and senior players together in training. It offers our seniors more competition to play and train against, while giving our youngsters valuable tests and guidance from their older counterparts.
“It also helps build a real togetherness at the club. We saw that over the weekend, everyone cheering each other on no matter their age.
“It’s a wonderful sport and we have an amazing culture in our group.
“We want to get back to our home at FB fields as soon as possible so we can continue our hard work, but it is challenging.
“With the damage caused by the storm, it will cost a lot of money to get us back up and running. We are in need of financial assistance and if anybody is interested in assisting us in getting our top class facility back up and running it would be incredibly appreciated and would allow our players their facility back.”
Next up for the JTTA juniors is a trip to Isle of Man in June for the Secondary School Championships against fellow home nations England, Ireland, Scotland, Wales and the hosts, Isle of Man.
Freitas concluded: “The Secondary School Championships will be a top level of competition for our juniors.
“They are training hard and now we have last weekend out the way, they can focus all their attention on it. I’m really looking forward to the next couple of months training with them and seeing how they get on in June.”
