Jamaica’s Minister of Culture, Gender, Entertainment and Sport, the hon. Olivia ‘Babsy’ Grange issued a statement on Monday offering her condolences to the family of Table Tennis stalwart Gary Royes who passed away recently.

“It is with deep sadness that I extend heartfelt condolences to Mrs. Christen Dobson Royes, her son Logan, and the entire Royes family on the untimely passing of Mr. Gary Royes.”

Royes wore many hats in the local Table Tennis community. He was a devoted father to Logan, a national junior champion and Jamaica College student, who recently returned from Barbados as a member of Jamaica’s third-place Under-15 Caribbean Championships team.

Grange described the late Royes as “a pillar of unwavering support to the youth in our sporting community.”

“He served as the dedicated videographer, capturing countless matches without ever asking for anything in return and was also known for his kindness and generosity — repairing rackets, assisting players, and always making representation to me on behalf of the JTTA and making himself available for all, without hesitation,” Grange added.

Klao Bell-Lewis, the mother of Gianna and Tsenaye Lewis who represent Jamaica, described him as “such a great dad and uncle to all the Table Tennis kids.”

“Because of him, there is a repository of documentation of table tennis in recent years, and particularly of each of the children. It is likely that any footage used of Table Tennis will have come from his amateur but oh so selfless and diligent production.”