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NEW OTTF
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| Thirty-three year
old Andrew Hubbard is the new Development Officer for the Oceania Table
Tennis Federation; he succeeds Nepal’s Surendra Suwal who was
appointed Oceania Development Officer in March 2006 but unfortunately
health and family reasons have forced his resignation. Hubbard, a powerful right handed attacking player, has been one of the leading players from Oceania in recent years and has played professionally in Germany and France since 1992; he brings a wealth of experience to the post. "He has represented New Zealand at six World Championships, two Commonwealth Games and three Commonwealth Championships", explained Glenn Tepper, ITTF Development Manager. "He was New Zealand Men’s Singles Champion in 1994 and has already worked for several years as the Development Officer and Coach in his home region of Lower Hutt" Courses Furthermore, in 2006 he has conducted courses for the Oceania Table Tennis Federation in both Kiribati and Papua New Guinea; the experience gained giving him a deeper insight into the needs of the region. "Andrew has all the required qualities to follow in the footsteps of previous Oceania Development Officers, Glenn Tepper and Steve Dainton", said Patrick Gillmann, the President of the Oceania Table Tennis Federation. "He was a high level player in his home country New Zealand; he is an excellent coach from grass roots to international level and speaks the two languages necessary in Oceania: English and French." Role It a challenging position for the New Zealander who will assume a slightly different role to that of his predecessors. "He will become the first Oceania Development Officer who has also the task of developing and even creating sponsorship, publicity and broadcasting opportunities in Oceania", explained Gillmann who is well aware that progress can be made if finance is available and that initiatives from within Oceania are necessary. Well Aware The importance of a increases financial reserves is a fact of which Hubbard is also well aware. "There are many challenges but I think funding is the item that is of prime importance; also the provision of equipment is an essential matter that needs to be addressed", he said. "One of the difficulties in Oceania is that there are so many small nations in the region, so it’s very hard for them to compete at international level." They need help. They need both financial and technical help; assistance through the ITTF Development Programme and the Oceania Development Programme has helped greatly in recent years, that is set to continue and will no doubt grow, Self Help "The aim is to increase our income in order to allow the Oceania Table Tennis Federation to further our ambitious umpire development programme", continued Patrick Gillmann. "Also, we must target our cadet level players and bring them closer to the level of other continents; this means we need a bigger budget than at present." It is the cadet players who form the first task for Hubbard; his duties starting officially on 16th October 2006 with the preparation of the Oceania Boys’ Team for the ITTF World Cadet Challenge in Serbia Welcome "I am sure that all the Oceania countries will give Andrew a warm welcome and they will appreciate his efforts", added Patrick Gillmann. "I wish Andrew good luck in he's new job, I’m sure he will enjoy the varied nature of Oceania table tennis, and that our goals will be achieved." It is a challenging post, Andrew Hubbard the player always welcomed the challenge, now he has another challenge in table tennis, one which he relishes and one in which he’ll no doubt succeed. |
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