Born Under a Lucky Star: Celebrated Coach Jasna Rather
By Joel Lidstrom
Press Committee Member
She was a number one cadet, a number one junior; she had an uncle who was a high-level table tennis coach…but she hated to practice. She wanted the thrill of competition.
She rode that love of competition, and suffered enough practice along the way, to win an Olympic medal. When I asked how one can succeed without having done the hard work, she smiled and said, “Maybe I was born under a lucky star.”
I met Jasna Rather sixteen years ago at this very tournament, hosted by my home club in Rochester, Minnesota. She was a player coach on what was easily the most dominant collegiate table tennis team ever. During the three years we hosted the tournament, the Texas Wesleyan teams won every category.
Having grown up in Yugoslavia, a country with a great table tennis history, Jana was exposed to frequent competitions. By the age of twelve she was competing in international events. By thirteen she had beaten the European women’s champion.
Without even understanding the implications of trying out for the Olympic team—it seemed to be just another competition—she traveled to Karlsruhe, Germany to try out. This was the first year that table tennis was in the Olympics, and because each European country sent three women to vie for a spot on a very small team, her chances were slim at best.
She won the competition.
Traveling to Seoul, she wondered aloud about possibly winning a medal. Everyone thought her audacious at best, foolhardy at worst. She arrived at the Olympic Village as a 17-year-old full of celebrity and living a kind of happy dream. That dream culminated in the Bronze Medal in Women’s Doubles in the Seoul 1988 Olympics, playing for Yugoslavia with her doubles partner Gordana Perkučin.
Jasna recognizes how hard it is for successful athletes to reinvent themselves when their career is over. It is one reason why she thinks the U.S. system is better than the European. “Look at all these players. They are smart, they go to fancy schools, they will graduate, they will prepare themselves for the work world. This does not happen so much in Europe.”
When asked about her great success guiding the Texan Wesleyan team, she acknowledges the attainment, but seems pleased that the level has risen everywhere. “Look at UCLA; look at Indiana. Schools everywhere have great teams. It’s not just Texas Wesleyan anymore.”
How interesting. Jasna said this to me just a few hours before the Texas Wesleyan players erupted ecstatically onto the court with yet another NCTTA Co-ed and Women’s Team Championship titles.
Yes, Jasna, perhaps you were born under a lucky star.
(Pictured are Coach Rather's Texas Wesleyan Coed Team celebrating another well deserved Championship title. Photo credit to Yukong Zhang).
About 2024 NCTTA College Table Tennis Championships
The championships are hosted by the
National Collegiate Table Tennis Association and the Visit Eau Claire CVB. The
event will feature: Men’s and Women’s Singles and Doubles, and Men’s/Coed
Teams, Women’s Teams.
PongSpace, Joola, the US
Coast Guard, Visit Eau Claire and Bluestone Designs sponsor the event.
Watch the event on live
stream starting Friday, April 12th on http://www.nctta.org/champs/2024/video.html
About NCTTA
The National Collegiate Table Tennis
Association (NCTTA) is a non-profit organization established exclusively to
promote the sport of table tennis at the college level. As the national
governing body for college table tennis in the United States and Canada, NCTTA
organizes elite intercollegiate competitions throughout North America. www.nctta.org