I was brought up with a table tennis bat in my hand, both my parents played table tennis and once I was tall enough to see over the table, the sport was introduced to me on the kitchen table at home. At age 11 I played in my first Leinster ranking tournament, where I won the under 12 category and over the following years, I won several under age tournaments at national level. At age 16 I represented Ireland for the first time at the European Youth Championships and in 1993 I got my first call up to the Senior national team. There followed a long international career spanning 13 years during which time I competed at 5 World Championships and 8 European Championships. Between 2006 and 2009 I played table tennis on a semi-professional basis for SC Urania in Hamburg. I have won every domestic tournament in Ireland on at least one occasion and was the National singles champion on two occasions. The highlight of my playing career domestically has to be my first National singles title, it was a long time coming! My highlights abroad are too many to mention but competing at a World Championships in China, the home of table tennis, has to rank amongst one of the best experiences of my life.
Along side my playing career I qualified as a Level 2 coach and have now amassed over 30 years of coaching experience at club, school and International level. My Masters degrees in Geography and German led to a 25 year career in the tourism industry but my love for table tennis finally took over when in 2022, I left the industry behind to pursue a career as a freelance coach. Today I am working with both the able-bodied and Para National squads as well as coaching in schools and clubs around the South Dublin area.
I would love to see more girls playing the sport of table tennis. A lot of work is being done at grass roots level to encourage more girls to play but unfortunately the problem of keeping them in the sport past their teenage years still exists. I would encourage any girl who is thinking of leaving the game behind to go and get a coaching qualification. This may give you a new incentive and motivation to stay in the sport. Even if you are still a player, coaching can give you new insights and can help you to improve as a player. Sport is a great way to meet people and stay healthy at the same time and table tennis in particular is a sport that can be enjoyed at all ages.
Tara Fusco
