You never know what’s around the corner. It could be everything. Or it could be nothing. You keep putting one foot in front of the other, and then one day you look back and you’ve climbed a mountain. This quotation by Tom Hiddleston sums up the story of an indigenous club in the Eastern region of Ghana.
The renowned table tennis club birthed by Ɔsekyerehene Nana Kwaku Boateng lll (the late paramount chief of the New Juaben Traditional Council of Blessed Memory in 1978), New Juaben Table Tennis Club (NJTTC) has consistently demonstrated exceptional leadership, innovative programming, and tireless pursuit of greatness.
Table Tennis was played by individuals in the municipality in the early 1950s as a recreational activity. It was not until the mid-1970s that a prominent King of the New Juaben Traditional Area Nana Kwaku Boateng II took particular interest in gathering the youth together to play the game in his Palace.
The table tennis club is based in Koforidua, the capital of the eastern region, and by dint of hard work and result-oriented activities with the Koforidua Community Centre as their training base. Unearthing and nurturing the young talents in the municipality to become self-sustaining in life through Table Tennis is the mission of the club and the vision is Using the game of Ping Pong to entertain and eradicate streetism in the Municipality.
The club’s expert coaches and training programs like the innovative “TALENT HUNT PROGRAM” where they go to the primary schools in the municipality to Hunt for talents and train them to become national champions. It has nurtured numerous regional, national and international champions.
We’ve pioneered initiatives like the Municipal Community League named Daasebre Community League, where we have some of the finest players from all over the country coming over to play both to maintain their form and benefit from some financial compensation.
The club is proud of the numerous champions it has produced, as having produced the only male table tennis athlete (in the person of Isaac Opoku to play and qualify Ghana to represent the nation at the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta in the USA. Other notable players to mention are Nana Yaw Boateng who won the SWAG Award three consecutive times. Also worth mentioning is Akayade, who represented Ghana at the World Youth Games.
The club is on record as having organized numerous national open championships; notable among them is the Isaac Opoku-sponsored ASAWA NATIONAL OPEN CHAMPIONSHIPS, where they had players coming as far as Benin to compete. By hosting such high-profile tournaments and events, we’ve raised the profile of table tennis, attracting new fans and spectators.
The club has forged strong relationships with local authorities, schools, community groups, and especially the security services. It has contributed to having more of the club’s players gain employment in the security services and other institutions. The club has also become the hub of socialization and mutual support, where our philanthropic Directors offer scholarships to the needy to pursue academic exercises.
This is an honour for New Juaben Table Tennis Club (NJTTC) to be nominated for the prestigious SWAG Award, recognizing their dedication and passion for eradicating the streets of the new Juaben municipality and beyond of streetism.
The nomination is a testament to the hard work, passion, and commitment of our Patron, Club Board of Directors, Executives, and the entire playing body, as well as our ever-cheering supporters. The innovative approach, exceptional achievement, and lasting impact make this New Juaben Table Tennis Club (NJTTC) ideal recipient of this year’s SWAG AWARD.
By: Owuraku Nsiah/Sikka FM 89.5
