In the year when the International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) celebrates its centenary, the organisation has found a partner in the German Olympic Sports Confederation (DOSB) to look towards the next generations. Both organisations presented an initiative on Saturday, 8 August, in the Dominican Republic aimed at developing the coaching capabilities of ITTF member associations across the Americas, drawing on German expertise in sport to address the specific needs of different countries across the continent.
The initiative includes courses that will take place over the coming months in the Dominican Republic, Peru and Mexico, with coaches from different parts of the Americas taking part. Experts from the German Table Tennis Association (DTTB), a DOSB member, will deliver the courses, with one key distinction: there will be no one-size-fits-all approach for every country. Each programme has been designed according to the needs of the host association, from creating regional structures and reaching areas with fewer resources to preparing new coaches capable of bringing table tennis into schools.
Dominican Republic, Peru and Mexico with different objectives
In the Dominican Republic, the initiative will be linked to the upcoming opening of the ITTF Americas Continental Development Centre, scheduled for later this year. A series of DOSB courses will be held there and will be open not only to Dominican coaches but also to representatives from other member associations in the region. The programme will also receive additional financial support from the ITTF Development Programme 2026, reinforcing a structure designed to allow knowledge to reach beyond the host country’s borders and contribute to building a regional coaching base.
The Peruvian case presents a different need. The courses will focus on decentralising sports coaching and will bring together 20 selected coaches from remote areas of the country. The programme will coincide with the Peruvian national competitions taking place later this year, creating an opportunity to combine education with competitive activity. The intention is for these coaches to later take the knowledge they acquire back to their respective regions, bringing coaching resources to areas where access is more limited.
A focus on the next generations of table tennis
In Mexico, the focus will be on the connection between sport and the education system. The DOSB courses will support one of the main ambitions of the Mexican Table Tennis Federation: incorporating the sport into school programmes. To achieve this, young local coaches will take part in the programme with the aim of developing a generation capable of introducing table tennis to children and young people across different parts of the country, expanding opportunities to discover the sport from an early age.
The international dimension of the partnership is also explained by the DOSB’s experience. As the governing body for sport in Germany, it represents 103 member organisations and around 29.3 million people across more than 86,000 clubs. It also has a long history of cooperation with the German Federal Foreign Office on projects related to international sports development. For its president, Thomas Weikert, working with coaches represents an investment in athletes, young people and the future of sport, while for ITTF President Petra Sörling, the agreement turns the organisation’s centenary into an opportunity to prepare for the next century of table tennis.
During their visit to the Dominican Republic, Sörling and Weikert also attended a table tennis match at the 2026 Central American and Caribbean Games, held in Santo Domingo from 24 July to 8 August. Their presence took place in a particularly symbolic setting, as this year’s edition of the Games coincided with the centenary of the first edition of the competition, held in 1926, the same year in which the ITTF celebrates its first 100 years of history.
Last related articles
