Foreign players in Polish table tennis clubs: differences between sports cultures and coaches’ perception of the impact of foreign players on Polish table tennis

The paper presents results of empirical study on elite international athletes and Polish coaches working in the Polish top table tennis clubs. It focuses on foreign players and investigated Polish the perceptions of coaches with regard to the differences between sports cultures in foreign players’ countries of origin and Poland, and their consequences for efficiency of sport training and competition results. Major research findings concerned Chinese athletes. Another issue analysed in the paper concerns on-going discussion on the limits, costs and benefits of introducing international players into national sport leagues. Based on the research results and literature review, we analyse the perceived impact of foreign players on the table tennis training system in Poland, relationships between Polish and foreign players and the role of international players in club competition. Applying qualitative research allowed the authors to present the insights and views of the investigated athletes and coaches, and to analyse problems occurring in the sport careers of international sport migrants a sport discipline that has hitherto not received much scrutiny.