IWD 2022: Gianna & Tsenaye Lewis — Sisters, title holders, national table tennis team players

IT takes a community to develop our country’s youth, and sisters Gianna and Tsenaye Lewis have had the support of family members, coaches and teachers for whom #BreaktheBias is a way of life.

Thriving in the environment of Liberty Academy at the Priory where the motto was, “Free to achieve God’s standard for me”, they participated on the swim, track and table tennis teams, got exposed to leadership, football, dance, and chess; learned to play the recorder, drums and keyboard, and where each earned the post of head girl when they reached grade six in 2017 and 2018. Outside of school, Ishimoto School of Gymnastics occupied their time from ages two to 10. At Wolmer’s Trust High School for Girls, they continue to strive, led by the expectation and standards of Age Quod Agis – “Whatever you do, do it to the best of your ability”.

Both strong academic performers, with a disciplined, eager attitude to learning, the teenagers have had the benefit of a nurturing home with highly engaged parents, grandparents, aunts, cousins, godparents and a caregiver who has watched over them since they were babies.

At present they are involved in church youth groups and in the church music ministry where Gianna, 16, sings and occasionally plays piano, and Tsenaye, 14 plays the drums. Their hobbies include creating music videos, editing anime videos, flying drones, skateboarding, preparing complex gastronomic meals and learning from educational and hobby channels on YouTube. Saturdays are spent at extra lessons, table tennis practice and schoolwork, while Sundays after church often find them engaged in a competitive game of online or face-to-face chess with their grandfather, playing table tennis at a community centre, or Spanish language lessons.

They intend to follow their father’s and grandfather’s footsteps by being fluent in Spanish and have had many opportunities to practice in immersive environments via table tennis tournaments to the Dominican Republic, Colombia and Florida, USA. They also have an interest in Japanese and Chinese languages and at ages 12 and 14 completed an online college level introduction to Mandarin course.

Their immediate environments would have taught them about inclusion and breaking the bias in terms of gender and abilities. Liberty Academy educates children of all abilities in a common learning environment, while the strong, supportive presence of their father, grandfather, uncles and coaches has left self-limiting thinking unrooted. Involvement in table tennis was nurtured by dad Jide Lewis, who patiently allowed them to interrupt his own practice to attempt hitting the ball, even before they could barely see above the table. Jide learnt the love of the game from his dad Rupert Lewis. Opportunities to represent Jamaica came through the visionary organising activities of the late Godfrey Lothian, former president of the Jamaica Table Tennis Association, who was equally supportive of both girls and boys. Being equipped to earn a place on the national team came from the investment of Coach Dale Parham of Skills Unlimited Table Tennis Academy, their coach of seven years, who does not reinforce the faulty techniques of training the sisters to play a so-called “girls’ game”. Over the years their athleticism was encouraged by coaches Barry and Kemar at Liberty Academy, and in table tennis they have been blessed to be part of a community which includes strong players Simon Tomlinson, Peter Moo-Young, members of the Pembroke Hall and Emancipation Park table tennis crews, and coaches Sandra Reittie, Maxeline “Tina” Knuckles and Clive Grossett. They have had wonderful examples in other girls in the sport including Jamaica’s Dadrian Lewis, Liana Campbell and Solesha Young, while closely monitoring the progress of Adriana Diaz of Puerto Rico, Chen Meng of China, Mima Ito of Japan, and Bruna Takahasi of Brazil.

They do not think of themselves as special or gifted, just grateful that they have had the support and the exposure which has allowed them to learn skills and pursue interests.

“Everybody, age or gender, needs support to self-actualise and being able to access the resources in people, tools, training makes all the difference to how someone’s life turns out. The girls are blessed with a wonderful father who, when the girls were babies, bought and read the book How Children Learn. This helped him to identify early their proclivities and learn how to steer them accordingly. Although he is passionate about the sport as a player, he responded when they chose table tennis rather than his pushing them toward it,” said mom Klao Bell-Lewis.

For their part, Gianna’s view is that: “It is hard to balance school and sports especially at this stage with CSEC exams and tournaments happening at the same time. But both of them are important to me so it comes down to dedication, prioritising, sacrifice and careful planning.”

She added: “Everything that is beneficial helps me to prepare for the future, so the physical fitness, the critical thinking that table tennis requires, helps me to deal with school and other areas of life.”

Added Tsenaye: “Balancing school life and table tennis is of course not very easy for many reasons, but time management plays a major part in making it possible to accomplish goals. Life is not easy, you have to be organised. It takes a lot of diligence and responsibility to not be behind in school, while also keeping up with training. I am grateful for the support of my parents, grandparents, aunties and uncles. Their positive words and encouragement really inspire me.

About Gianna Lewis

•Title holder of 2nd ranked player in the Under-19 women’s category and 3rd ranked player in the under 21 women’s category in Jamaica.

•Has been a member of national table tennis squad since 2016 representing Jamaica in the Caribbean Regional Federation Table Tennis and Latin American Cadet Championships.

•Member of the Wolmer’s Girls’ Table Tennis Team.

•Recipient of a 2019 Pocket Rocket Foundation Scholarship for outstanding student athletes.

About Tsenaye Lewis

•Top ranked player in Jamaica in the Under-15 category, 2nd ranked in Under-21, and second ranked woman overall player in Jamaica.

•Earned a 1,654 level ranking with the USA Table Tennis Federation in December 202.

•2018 RJR/Gleaner Sports Woman of the Year for Table Tennis.

•Has been a member of the national table tennis squad since 2016 representing Jamaica in the Caribbean Regional Federation Table Tennis and Latin American Cadet Championships.

•Member of Wolmer’s Girls’ Table Tennis Team.