Table Tennis Victoria: Tell us what is involved in being State Team Manager?

Frank Pearce: Basically, it’s about making sure everything runs smoothly and ensuring there’s clear communication throughout the whole team across the juniors, seniors and parents.

Part of the role has also been scheduling coaches for every match and co-ordinating resources appropriately between the different coaching groups, requested individual coaches and state team coaches. I don’t want anyone to be left behind whether you’re a high performer or not. Everyone has a part to play in a team and it was important to me that no one was left behind.

Other aspects of the role include dealing with any issues that pop up, liaising with parents and helping people with illness or injury. I also played a part in making sure no-one misses a match by co-ordinating with tournament officials and chasing the players who were missing.

I also spent time giving advice and workshopping development for the coaching team as well as spending quite a bit of time with nervous kids, trying to help them deal with their perceived pressure around playing in the nationals.

TTV: How does your role aid those playing and coaching at the Nationals?

FP: The manager role provides an opportunity to provide support to the players, parents and coaches. With such a large team, it’s necessary to have a ‘go to’ person who knows what’s going on.   

As the manager, one of my main objectives is trying to provide a team atmosphere and keeping people in high spirits. There are a lot of questions that need answers from players, parents, coaches and officials. I spent quite a lot of time liaising with different people, researching and querying rules, and sometimes enforcing rules or seeking advice on behalf of others.

Part of my role was also looking for anything that may help to make things easier for players at the nationals. I tried to touch base with as many people as possible to make sure there weren’t any issues. When there were issues, I would try to resolve them as quickly as possible using appropriate methods. Anything from timetable clashes to coach allocations or even mediating the odd argument between parties if it popped up.

TTV: What do you most enjoy about being State Team Manager?

FP: It’s an opportunity to provide the experience to others that I had when I was a junior. The nationals were a pinnacle moment for me when I was young, and now I get to do it again from the other side. I want their experiences to be as good as mine were.

It’s great to work with people and to be a positive enabler and I’m able to help with anything from getting people eating properly to dealing with injuries.  

TTV: What attributes of yours do you want to impart or show towards those involved at the nationals?

FP: Basically, I don’t like leaving anyone behind and believe everyone deserves an equal amount of respect and attention. I want everyone to approach table tennis with a growth mindset. You can learn from every loss through positive re-enforcement, and it’s a game you can enjoy and improve at forever. The nationals aren’t everything and building a game takes years. I’m still learning myself. I have learnt how to win and more importantly, how to lose gracefully. This is the fastest way to improve.

I’ve also wanted to show high levels of energy. If you approach a task with full attention and focus, it becomes easy. It doesn’t matter what that task is.

TTV: What have you learned so far being State Team Manager?

FP: There’s a lot to do and a lot of names to learn!

Every players’ personality is different, so trying to gauge needs is really important. I’ve learnt to be always as attentive as possible to try to understand exactly what people are after.

TTV: What words of encouragement would you have for anyone who might be eager to be a state team manager in the future be whether that’s in Victoria or for any other states in Australia?

FP: It’s very rewarding and very hard work. Lots to do. You’ll need to be on top of many things at the same time, but if you work well with those around you and utilise everyone’s skills you end up being a part of an amazing team and things run smoothly.