The Romanian city of Buzau was the home for the Eurokids Training Camp from Saturday 6th to Friday 12th September 2008 held under the auspices of the European Table Tennis Union and the ITTF Development Programme.

The course was under the direction of Jarek Kolodziejczyk, the Head Coach and Zita Pidl, the Development Officer for the European Table Tennis Union.

Buzau is a city steeped in history being 120 kilometres from the capital Bucharest and in 2003 was also the home for a Youth Training Camp organised by the European Table Tennis Union.


Good Standard Hotel
“All the participants were accommodated in the Hotel Sport B90, which was a 2 star hotel of a very good standard, just beside the sports hall”, explained Zita Pidl. “Rooms comprising two or three beds were used being equipped with showers, televisions, toilets and telephones; the standard of accommodation was ideal for the Eurokids project.”

“All meals have been served in the hotel restaurant; the quality and the quantity of the nutrition was good; we had at every meals salad and fruit; also, two litres of mineral water per person was provided every day and small snack during the afternoon session”, explained Zita Pidl. “Also, free wireless internet connection was available in the hotel lobby, which was very much appreciated and we had a meeting room 24 hours per day only at our disposal; all staff members of the hotel complex were very friendly to us and fulfilled all of our wishes.”

Participants
The co-operation was a factor for which both Zita Pidl and Jarek Kolodziejczyk were grateful.

A total of 37 players from 17 associations with 17 coaches took part; unfortunately, the Italian Table Tennis Association was forced to cancel its participation owing to the serious illness of its coach.

No Refusals
“Fortunately no association had to be refused, all who entered participated”, continued Zita Pidl. “The coaches were really active this time, almost all acted enthusiastically during the training sessions; the co-operation between them and the Head Coach was excellent.”

Furthermore, two national players worked as coaches, Slovakia’s Jaromir Truksa and Belgium’s Tim Janssens.

Facilities
“We had the pleasure to use the big sports hall of the city, where there were 20 tables were at our disposal with five tables available at all times for multi-ball practice.”

Programme
The programme for the week, prepared by Jarek Kolodziejczyk, was sent to all participating associations in advance combining technical training, physical training and video analysis.

In addition seminars were held with Martin Adomeit explained the system employed in Germany; a seminar which captivated all concerned as he explained the steps implemented for players to progress to international level.

Martin Adomeit also took part in the training sessions, working predominantly with players in multi-ball sessions.

Tournament
New innovations but one item remained the now traditional Eurokids tournament; the winner was Hungary’s Adam Suzi who remained unbeaten with Romania’s Alin Spelbus in second place ahead of Lithuania’s Ignas Navickas. The leading female player was the host nation’s Bernadette Balint.

The tournament was organised by the Czech Republic’s Martin Linert, one of the coaches on duty who is also an international umpire.

Vote of Thanks
It was a very successful course thanks to all concerned.

“I would like to thank the Romanian Table Tennis Association and in particular to Mrs Beatrice Romanescu, the Marketing Manager of the national association for the perfect organisation and hospitality; Martin Adomeit for conducting interesting seminar sessions, Martin Linert for running the tournament in a professional way and our Head Coach, Jarek Kolodziejczk, who, as usual, worked very hard during the whole period”, concluded Zita Pidl. “Also, my thanks must go to all the coaches and players for their valuable contribution plus the International Table Tennis Federation and Tibhar who provided the table tennis balls for the camp.”

A very successful Training Camp and appreciated by all concerned.

Descarca Raportul d-nei Zita Pidl
Descarca Rezultatele Turneului de la Buzau