It sounds like the call letters for a radio station west of the Mississippi: "WFIM." With apologies to radio enthusiasts, WFIM is actually an abbreviation for "With the Future In Mind," a scholarship program for aspiring Olympians. WFIM is the love child of Olympic Solidarity and the International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF). Olympic Solidarity operates under the aegis of the International Olympic Committee (IOC). According to their website, "The aim of Olympic Solidarity is to organise assistance for all the National Olympic Committees (NOCs), particularly those with the greatest needs, through multi-faceted programmes prioritising athlete development, training of coaches and sport administrators, and promoting the Olympic ideals." True to this mission statement, WFIM has set out to help talented table tennis players from around the world work toward their Olympic goals. The scholarships support both juniors training for the Dakar 2022 Youth Olympic Games and kids of all ages aiming for the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games (postponed until 2021, but keeping their maiden name). Among the perquisites of winning a scholarship is an invite to the ITTF High Performance Training Camps, which provide expert coaching at all stages of development. Another bonus is access to Stupa, a data analytics firm based in India which has designed software to analyze your play via video and provide highly technical constructive criticism. The scholarships are designed to supplement the training of deserving athletes beyond what their NOCs can provide. In this way, they follow the example of Puerto Rican singer Daddy Yankee. In 2018, the reggaeton star reached into his own pocket to send Puerto Rico's top players Adriana and Melanie Diaz to play in Europe when their cash-strapped NOC could not provide the needed funds for training. With the help of this support and a WFIM scholarship, Adriana Diaz has now qualified for the 2020 Olympics. Senegal's Ibrahima Diaw is another such success story. "The support I received from ITTF and Olympic Solidarity through the With The Future In Mind program assisted me during the past year in ensuring my qualification for Tokyo 2020," said Diaw. "I would not have achieved this without it!" Perhaps WFIM is not entirely unlike a radio station after all. It does broadcast a message with frequency, one of hope, and people are definitely tuning in.

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