Second Phase of Rackets Up is Commenced in Isparta on World Table Tennis Day
As Turkey’s Global Rep in the field of aviation software, Hitit started the second phase of its social responsibility project called Rackets Up in Isparta. While introducing table tennis to children between the range of 6 and 15 years of age, Rackets Up, whose first step was taken last year in Çorum, at the same time aims at supporting life skills of children through sports. Under this project developed in cooperation with Turkish Table Tennis Federation, children met with sports this time in Isparta on the 6th of April, Saturday World Table Tennis Day. The project is expected to reach 25 thousand children in 2019.
Turkish software company Hitit, presenting the technological infrastructure in global airline passenger service system industry enabling travel facilities to nearly 65 million passengers annually, initiated the second phase of the social responsibility project called Rackets Up in Isparta together with its project partner, Turkish Table Tennis Federation.
With “Rackets Up” put into practice together with the Federation, it is targeted to enable children meet with table tennis sports and grow with the habit of having a healthy life style and exercising sports regularly.
Isparta was the second station of the Rackets Up voyage started with the pilot application in Çorum last year. Within the scope of Rackets Up enabling children meet table tennis; table tennis boards and materials will be supplied to 41 schools in Isparta lacking table tennis equipments previously. Combining its equipment support with a Professional training program, Rackets Up is aiming at providing Level 1 coaching certificates to the teachers at those schools under the scope of the project and making table tennis training popular in schools.
The target is to have access to 25.000 children this year
As a result of the professional trainings given by Turkish Table Tennis Federation, it is targeted to reach 25.000 children in 2019 through the teachers receiving coaching certificates. Rackets Up also aims at gaining sportspersons through discovering and supporting young talents who can represent our country on a global scale in table tennis, which is a sports branch supporting both mental and physical development of children. As a result of the support provided to 55 schools in Çorum, the pilot province of Rackets Up, 11.000 children benefited from the project.
The project in Isparta was launched at Isparta Işıkkent Sports Hall on the 6th of April, 2019, Saturday, which is World Table Tennis Day at the same time. The event attended by Isparta Province Protocol, representatives from Hitit and TMTF, project’s stakeholders as well as teachers and students from the schools covered by the Project attracted great attention and drew interest. Table tennis was played all day long in the event starting with protocol games and demonstration matches played by the students from Ispartes Table Tennis Club, which brings up players to Turkish official leagues.
Rackets Up shall be extending worldwide as well
Hitit Computer Services CMO Nevra Onursal Karaagac expressed as follows in the speech she made about the project: “Rackets Up is a very special project where Hitit Computer Services tries to fulfill its responsibility towards the society by means of touching the lives of children through sports... It is obvious that our children and youth in the development stage are open and vulnerable to unfavorable social and environmental impacts no matter where and under which conditions they might be... Therefore, we desired to canalize the energy and spare time of children, who are the assurances of our future, to areas useful for them. I believe that we will achieve our goal through table tennis, one of the rare sports branches that could as well be played by our children who are mentally and physically handicapped. Today, we are very happy to make this lovely beginning in Isparta on World Table Tennis Day together with our project partner Turkish Table Tennis Federation and the esteemed Province Protocol. Next stop of our project, in which we are targeting all our 81 provinces, will be Trabzon... On the other hand, with table tennis, we want to open the doors of a different world to children and young people in temporary shelter centers. We are planning to move our project abroad and be a pioneer in the field of table tennis by taking bigger steps gradually.”
Turkish Table Tennis Federation Vice-President Gökçe Ok said: “I believe that on this meaningful date, which is World Table Tennis Day, it is very meaningful for Turkish Table Tennis family to take part in such a major organization of this scale. The first step of the Rackets Up project was held in Çorum and material support for table tennis was provided to 55 schools which were lack of necessary equipment. Materials given in this project were combined with a professional training program and were made more efficient by a skillful tutorial for our children who are our future.
In accordance with the program prepared in cooperation with Süleyman Demirel University, we will add 41 trainers to the table tennis family with the support of professional trainers by giving Level 1 Coaching Certificate to the teachers chosen from 40 schools in Isparta between the 8th and 21st of April.
With Rackets Up Project, we are planning to bring 25.000 of our children together with table tennis till the end of 2019.”