T&T’s Sherdon Pierre will be the lone Caribbean nominee seeking a position on any of the seven International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) Permanent Committees when voting takes place Wednesday.
The 31-year-old Pierre, a former Trinity College East student will be among the 12 candidates in the race to be selected for the ITTF Media Committee with the voting to take place at the annual general meeting (AGM) of the ITTF in Houston, Texas, USA which is hosting the 56th ITTF World Table Tennis Championship until Monday (November 29).
The other candidates for positions on the Media Committee are Geraldo Campestrini (Brazil), Thorsten Gohl (Canada), Arne Madsen (Denmark), Nicole Smith (Ecuador), Manfred Schillings (Germany), Mawuko Afadzinu (Ghana), Youngji Jeon (South Korea), Roy Akiki (Lebanon), Svenn-Erick Nordby (Norway), Max Ansbro (Sweden) and Majd Albalooshi (United Arab Emirates).
The list of nominations for the seven ITTF Permanent Committees was ratified and released on November 6 by the federation’s secretary general, Raul Calin and sent to the respective candidates on November 11.
A member of local table-tennis club D’Abadie Youths, Pierre speaking on the eve on the elections from Barbados where he has been based for most of the year said he was aware of the possibility of being nominated for the Media Committee of the ITTF, a few months ago.
He said, “It was brought to my attention by former T&T Table Tennis Association (T&TTTA) president Merle Baggoo and secretary Bob Roopnarine.
“I was nominated by the T&TTTA and I can’t recall if there were any previous Caribbean representatives on this committee so it's probably a historical quest and I am ready for the challenge.”
Reflecting on his bid to so far, Pierre said, “I left home (T&T) since February of this year trying to promote and highlight the sport as best as I could for the Caribbean players to reach on the world stage and I believe this is an excellent opportunity for me to help bridge the gap of promoting our players of the Caribbean.
“I hope this opportunity will allow me to promote and highlight the talent of the Caribbean as we continue to push forward and bridge the gap between us and the world.
"This is something I have been trying to do for the last couple months or so and this is another excellent opportunity for this to happen.
"For far too long we needed someone to push for us and hopefully I can be that person and put us back on the map because we have talent and it just needs a little more attention towards our positive impact in the sport of table tennis," stated Pierre.
The holder of a Bachelor’s Degree in Sports Studies and International Masters in Sports for Development, Pierre said he tried to whip up support for his nomination by contacting regional bodies.
“I have contacted the president of the Caribbean Regional Table Tennis Federation and I have reached out to other countries lobbying for their support," said the former Trinity College East.
Concerning his readiness for a position on the committee a confident, Pierre added, "I have been in media for quite a while now, almost a decade so I understand and know what challenges there are especially being from the Caribbean and dealing with an international federation.
"So, I am up for the challenge because at the end of the day it's for the betterment of the sport in the Caribbean as well as T&T, and I hope that I get the support of the countries that I have asked and on Wednesday (today), I will know for sure if I made the committee."
With regards to the committees, Pierre noted that the Permanent Committee positions are for two years and the last time the Media Committee comprised seven members and one chairman, so that’s eight members and now they have 12 committee member nominations.
The six other committees to be selected today includes Equipment Committee (9 nominees); Rules Committee (17); Para Table Tennis (16); Sports Science and Medical Committee; Umpires and Referees’ Committee (16); and Veterans’ Committee (15).