Company Secretary of Continental Group of Companies, MS Ally, handed over the package to President of the Guyana Table Tennis Association, Beni Sankar, during a press conference to launch the countrywide venture.

Ally said that the company aimed for a national tournament, with the preliminary rounds in the respective areas, then the finals at the Cliff Anderson Sports Hall involving the cream of the players in the country.

The sponsor envisaged the “more refined” players being coached to reach a higher level so they might become very competitive in the sport.

“When the competition is concluded, it should help to put table tennis to a higher stage,” Ally said.

Ally recalled that Guyana produced several Caribbean champions and with this championship, players would emerge with the ability to make Guyana proud.

“And in all of this, I’m pretty sure Sunburst Orange Juice would play a major role,” Ally asserted.

The business executive acknowledged that in this first venture, all the schools in the country might not be reached, but in subsequent tournaments, the objective would be realised.

“We are hoping to build from the success of this one, for future tournaments as we aim to involve all 450 schools,” Ally said, adding: “Our commitment is here. We will do all we can to make it a success.”

The company executive pointed out that today schoolboys no longer play marbles at the end of a school day, but turned to “vices” that are dominating them.

“This is one way we hope to keep our children away from drugs,” Ally said.

Sankar commended the company for injecting money into the tournament at a time when the business community is struggling.

“As a businessman out there, I know how tight it is right now where money is concerned, and for Continental to put this kind of money now into the system, we’re all very grateful,” Sankar said.

The GTTA head pointed out that the objective of Continental was similar to the sport body’s.

“Somehow we have lost some of our culture in this country and the only way we can bring it back is through schools. And the only way the schools can get involved is through some kind of sports,” Sankar said.

The Continental package consists of trophies, cash, jerseys and promotional material for the tournament.

Play will start on Monday, May 13 and end on May 31, with preliminaries set for Linden, Berbice, Essequibo, Berbice, East Bank Demerara and East Coast Demerara.

The deadline for entries is next week Friday at 16:00 hrs at the GTTA Training Centre in the National Park.

It is a team championship and each team will be made up of three boys and three girls, in the Under-13, Under-15 and Under-17 divisions. The only individual event is the Open Singles.

The Most Outstanding School will receive the Sunburst Trophy while prizes will be awarded to the top three teams in each division.

There will also be prizes for the Most Disciplined Team, the Best Dressed Team, the Best Out-of-City Team and the Most Improved Player.