With just over a month before the 2021 ITTF Annual General Meeting (AGM) opens in Houston, Texas, HPD reported on its activities over the past year and on the success of the hybrid model developed for its programmes, with online units complementing on-site activities.

“After the pandemic breakout in early 2020, we were forced to cancel all our activities but continued to look into the rollout of our new 2021 ITTF Development Plan with a lot of enthusiasm, explained Polona Cehovin, High Performance & Development Director.”

“However, soon it became clear that nothing was clear and also that again we needed to review our programmes and projects and adjust them to the ‘new normal’. And we did it! We kept the direction, which is actually defined by the ITTF Strategic Plan and tried to be creative and innovative when developing solutions and tools that would continue bringing us closer to the set objectives.”

“This said, we are very proud that – although in a slightly different form – we were able to launch the Participation Program, a brand-new initiative in which each and every Member Association (MA) can actively take part and benefit. We diversified and enriched a lot the portfolio of incentives that run on Continental level. Besides, we were finally able to restart with our High Performance Programme, but at the same time continued releasing regularly online events as not wanting to leave anyone behind. Finally, another thing that proved to be working well is the holistic approach that we adopted – cooperation with Member Relations, hence the joint videoconference of today, but not only as through the synergies across the ITTF Group we can definitely achieve more and if working close with all the stakeholders of the International Table Tennis community also obtain better results. All of us.”

Around 100 online attendees from MAs based across the world participated in the videoconference, with polling options available throughout, helping to play their part in shaping the many different areas of HPD programmes.

More than 90% of the respondents said they want to keep the hybrid model in the future, more than 70% believe it is good to connect training camps to events, and 80% are already familiar with the Participation Programme and its content – as many thumbs up for the work delivered by HPD over the course of the past year.

Member Relations

Mounir Bessah, Member Relations Director, also reported on the growth of his team and on the activities of its department to support MAs, and to consolidate the relations between ITTF Group, Continental Federations and MAs.

Some of the highlights include the signing of four master continental agreements, governance workshops, and the launch of ITTF Africa website.

“I hope that our Member Associations received a full update on what we are working on daily basis in order to assist them in their projects and plans for the development of our beloved sport Table Tennis,” said Bessah.

Watch the full presentation of High Performance & Development and Member Relations here

The Annual General Meeting of the International Table Tennis Federation will be held on 24 November 2021, on the occasion of the 2021 ITTF World Championship Finals in Houston, Texas. Prior to it, the ITTF Group is hosting a series of videoconferences from 18 October to 15 November, featuring presentations for the global Table Tennis community. Delegates registered officially for the 2021 Annual General Meeting will be receiving the invitations for each of the videoconferences. The schedule of the 2021 ITTF AGM Videoconferences series is available here.

For further information, please contact: [email protected]