THE Zimbabwe Table Tennis Union (ZTTU) received an unexpected, but welcome donation from TableZone, a US-based non-profit organisation in conjunction with local sports company Trinity Sports.
The donation, valued at over US$6,000, included high-quality table tennis equipment such as Butterfly nets, Stag bats, three-star balls, and scoreboards.
ZTTU coach Fungai Tanara expressed her gratitude for the donation sourced by her company, Trinity Sports and donated to various primary and secondary schools by the mother body ZTTU.
"I am very grateful for this donation,”she said. “I didn't know there were tables out of nowhere... it's almost more than US$6000 for the donation that they've given us."
Tanara, a former professional player, has been working tirelessly to promote table tennis in Zimbabwe, particularly among young girls and in high-density areas where drug abuse is prevalent.
"The initiative that I'd already started before they came in was to have ladies play table tennis and also this fight against drugs," she said.
The donation from TableZone has enabled her to reach more communities and provide opportunities for young people to engage in the sport.
Tanara is optimistic about the impact of the donation, particularly in promoting table tennis among young girls.
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"Today we had more than 50 girls that came at Queen Elizabeth School," she said.
"I'm going to make an effort to coach for free in the schools as well so that they don't complain about not having money to pay coaches."
Yuvraj Gill, the founder of Table Zen, explained that his organisation targets countries with potential and opportunities to make a positive impact.
"Zimbabwe is a land full of opportunity and there is so much potential here," he said.
"Unfortunately, in a lot of these streets, especially in the high density areas, there is a lot of drug abuse and table tennis. We see it as a way to fight that drug abuse and to ensure that the beautiful families and the beautiful people of Zimbabwe are able to grow past that."
Gill emphasised that Table Zen's goal is not just to provide equipment, but to create sustainable table tennis clubs that can thrive without external support.
"We have to give them full control and the way we do that is by starting with the tables giving students the responsibility," he said.
"We've got student volunteers who took pictures and we got their names and we signed them up as table tennis volunteers. This gives them the initiative and now we are no longer the people who are starting these clubs, the students are holding the fishing rod and they're fishing."
