Farewell Samoa, Next Stop Austin, Music to the Ears of Richard McAfee
Courtesy of ITTF

A month long visit to the Pacific to conduct an Olympic Solidarity supported Developing a National Sports Structure Course in Samoa; Richard McAfee of the United States concluded his visit Friday June 12th.

In need of a rest, not at all; one of the most active Course Conductors within the ever growing ITTF Development Program, the American was back in action just over one week after waving goodbye to his new found friends on the island Upolu; only this time he was in more familiar surroundings.

He was in Austin, the capital of the state of Texas to conduct an ITTF Level Two Coaches Course; proceedings started on Sunday June 21st and concluded on Friday June 26th in a city that was no stranger to such initiatives.

Previously Austin had staged two ITTF/PTT Level One Courses and two ITTF Level Two Courses.

Music Capital of World
“The city of Austin enjoys the title of, “the music capital of the World”; it is also the home of one of the United States top table tennis clubs”, explained Richard McAfee. “The Austin Table Tennis Club was just recently names as an USA Table Tennis, National Center of Excellence.”

Undoubtedly it is a thriving organization; it was the venue for the Level Two course.

“The Austin Table Tennis Club is a full-time table tennis center with a large membership and lots of programs for players at all levels”, continued Richard McAfee. “It features 16 tables, wood flooring, excellent lights and air-conditioning, pro-shop, and a great lounge area.”

It proved a quite ideal venue; arguably somewhat different the challenges Richard McAfee had faced in Samoa where makeshift tables were the order of the day.

Two Coaches From Abroad
“This year’s Level Two Course was small, with only eight participants; however two foreign coaches were present, one from Bermuda and one from Costa Rica.”, added Richard McAfee. “The ITTF Level Two Course is an intense six day course; coaches spend the day training hard and spend their nights in study preparing for the two required exams.”

Hard work but it would seem efforts were rewarded.

Positive Results
“The result of all their hard work was a high pass rate but the coaches are not done yet as each has to return home and complete the required 50 hours of coaching practice with supervision before achieving ITTF Level Two certification.”, concluded Richard McAfee.

A successful course and now bags packed; back to Samoa in July to the island of Savai’i.