Carranza heads TATAP junior program

MANILA, Philippines - Table Tennis Association of the Philippines (TATAP) chairman Alvin Carranza has been appointed head of the association’s national junior and grassroots development program.

Because of the successful staging of his recently concluded two junior events, the nine members of the board of trustees led by Col. Cesar Hawthorne Binag approved the appointment.

“I’m excited to become part of our grassroots development and I believe in a few more years the Philippines will become globally competitive,” said Carranza.

He organized the Luzon leg in Manila last April and the Carranz Outdoor Visayas leg last May in Bacolod City to select 14 junior pool members each, while the Mindanao selection will be held sometime in October.

Carranza, an outdoor media specialist known to billboards businesses who funded both events, is planning more junior and grassroots events next year to discover fresh talents for the national team.

“After the two tournaments, I noticed that there are lots of young talents all over the country. All we need to do is identify them,” he said. “Filipinos have a bright chance to succeed in table tennis.”

Aside from the Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao legs, Carranza is eyeing to hold events also in different barangays here in Metro Manila and near provinces to look for more talents.

The selected players, said Carranza, will be given a chance to compete for the coming Southeast Asian Table Tennis Junior Championship or in any other junior events abroad.

Carranza, whose event is supported by Café Lupe restaurant in Antipolo, Floral Flair and Killerspin, is also planning to host the 2012 Southeast Asian Table Tennis Association (SEATTA) Championship somewhere in the country to improve the sport.

Carranza said that TATAP must act now in searching for more competitive junior players because most senior players are not getting any younger.   

“We should start pooling the potential players that could replace our current national team for the coming years,” said Carranza, who encourages all clubs to become part of his campaign in developing Philippine table tennis for greater heights.