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battered image of ittf and olympic table tennis |
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theman 
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Joined: 09/22/2006 Location: Australia Status: Offline Points: 7234 |
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 Posted: 09/01/2008 at 3:42am |
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yeah theres not enough funding in australia. evenwilliam henzell says the AIS aint funding squat for his trips overseas for pro tour events etc, hes basically trying to survive everyday with what he has
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Wheelie
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Joined: 10/29/2004 Location: South Africa Status: Offline Points: 154 |
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Posted: 09/01/2008 at 9:41am |
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Funding for table tennis is a big problem in most parts of the world.
Most people do not take table tennis seriously - they just think it is "ping pong", the game you play in your garage, not a real sport. This saddens us who play the game seriously and can appreciate the high levels of skill and athleticism required. As a result there is no money in table tennis. Roger Federer has made about US$40m from tennis in prize money alone. I cannot see table tennis ever getting there in my lifetime! Until that happens there is absolutely no way parents will encourage their children to pursue the sport professionally - better to go to college and get a good job. Sad but true. So the big question is "how do we get there?" - how do we get our sport to where tennis is? |
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TT_Freak
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Joined: 11/21/2004 Status: Offline Points: 2672 |
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Posted: 09/01/2008 at 11:06am |
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The first and last key is money. Follow the money and you will find the key to success. To get money out, you have to put money in. You have to provide billions of sponsorship dollars for pros. You have to turn the pros into marketable superstars. The Champion, The Badboy, The Prettyboy, The New Kid etc, pros in table tennis have no personality at all. They don't trash talk, they don't do drugs, they don't flaunt their millions and trophy girlfriends. No signs of ridiculous riches in the sport, no marketing, no female interest, no elite athletes, no popularity.
The change will come from China. As the country gets richer and conglomerates invests in the Chinese market, the sport's untapped potential will become evident. These multinational corporations will turn table tennis into a popular sport, install commercial timeouts, press conferences, changes to the format, better clothes, encourage viciousness between pros. Professional sport thrives on competition, hatred and dominance over your opponent. This will encourage the growth of table tennis, not grassroots, not convincing people how "hard" to play it is (in reality table tennis is a simple sport requiring little to no athletic ability), its simple: money to attract pros, and sex (read, beefcake or pretty boys) to attract women, and where the women are the men will follow. |
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Violin
F1 Actor 10g at 3 and 9 10g at 12 20g at the end of handle |
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Recanter
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Joined: 10/30/2005 Location: Australia Status: Offline Points: 161 |
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Posted: 09/04/2008 at 2:29pm |
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Yep I agree about the funding in Australia part. So much wasted talent here, the government just doesn't nurture our talent. NOt to mention names but imagine the national number one having to get a day time job just to make ends meet.
I can't imagine Wang Hao or Zhang Yi Ning doing that. |
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Timo Boll ALC ST
FH: BTY Tenergy 64 2.1 BH: BTY EJ Max |
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JimT
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Joined: 10/26/2007 Location: United States Status: Offline Points: 14602 |
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Posted: 09/04/2008 at 2:39pm |
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In the United States I am amazed that in all these years USATT has not managed to push TT into NCAA (National Collegiate Athletic Association). Some of the sports listed there are played by a handful of people and they still enjoy NCAA status, they have scholarships in many colleges etc.
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Single Ply Hinoki Club, Founding Member
Say "no!" to expensive table tennis equipment. Please... |
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ppmax
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Joined: 10/10/2007 Status: Offline Points: 275 |
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Posted: 09/04/2008 at 3:53pm |
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As for importing athletes, TT is hardly the only sport that does that. Track and field comes to mind.
As for why other countries can't compete, it's the image problem. Top Chinese players are highly regarded in their society, they drive Porsche, they date film stars. Just like top baseball/basketball/football players in the US. Give a TT player in other countries the same incentives, results will follow. |
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crs2
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Joined: 05/23/2006 Location: Romania Status: Offline Points: 357 |
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Posted: 09/04/2008 at 3:58pm |
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It is the other way around.
I believe that chinese "exports" as you so nicely called them, have the right to choose the country they want to play for and have the chance to use those skills in international competitons. After all that hard training is like wasting your life if you're not allowed to play. If migration wasn't an option whould have we ever seen Gao Ning or Kan Yo? How much poorer table tennis would be without these players! Tan Ruiwu was responsible for defeating the Romanian team and the players complained. I say good for Croatia! Tan will help raise the standard in Croatia and the chinese players will pass on their knowledge and trainig methods to europeans. Why would anyone want to ban this????? I always thought China would do something to stop it, not us! Remember, those players have the right to choose what country they want to represent. Calin Creanga became Kalinikos Kreanga and everybody loves him and has no problem with him representing Greece. Creanga was raised and trained by the best romanian coach so if somebody, that man has the right to complain not other countries or the ITTF.
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nicefrog
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Joined: 06/12/2008 Status: Offline Points: 2398 |
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Posted: 09/04/2008 at 4:07pm |
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The vast majority of clubs in Australia don't even have a permament stadium to play in, I'd say 80%+ of clubs are surviving in old dusty worn out halls on half broken tables.
On the day the Chinese beat Australia at Cricket we will beat them in Table Tennis :) either way just isn't going to happen and I don't really care. There's no Chinese players in my club and probably never will be :)
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nicefrog
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Joined: 06/12/2008 Status: Offline Points: 2398 |
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Posted: 09/04/2008 at 4:11pm |
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You make Sharapova play table tennis
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dimitris
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Joined: 02/16/2007 Location: United States Status: Offline Points: 852 |
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Posted: 09/04/2008 at 5:13pm |
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Or Navratilova, right? |
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theman wrote: