CROYDON TABLE TENNIS LEAGUE

(Affiliated to Table Tennis England and Surrey T.T.A.)

Website: www.croydontt.co.uk

President: John Barker

Hon. Treasurer                             Chairman/Secretary            TT365 Administrator

  Simon Fisher                                         Chris Harper                  Graham Hansen

Minutes of the Annual General Meeting

Held via Zoom on 30^th July 2020

Attending:  Chris Harper - Chairman, Dave Fish, Simon Fisher - Treasurer, Robin Faulkner - South Croydon, Mike West and Henry Thornton – Ballards, Graham Baxter – Sanderstead, Chris Posford – Eldon, Harry Isaacs and Ian O’Connor – Sparta, Civan Rennock – Croydon SDA, Mo Isthikar – Limpsfield, Lew Hodges – Wickham Park.

The Chairman welcomed all to the meeting. 

He said that the League had a truncated season due to the Covid-19 epidemic and matches were suspended in March. 

As the League could not be finished the Executive Committee completed the divisions by applying the average scores when teams had played each other and the final tables are shown on the League’s website.

The final tables did not differ a lot from those at the time of suspension other than in Division 3. A player for South Croydon D played up for the first, second and third teams. A majority of the Executive Council decided that his results in Division 3 had to be expunged under Rule 48, shown below. The argument was made that if a player does not play up for a particular team more than 4 times it is not a breach. However, the majority view was that matches played for all higher teams had to be taken into account. 

The Executive Council did not take this action lightly as it denied South Croydon D winning the Division but was satisfied that a breach of the rule had been committed. 

The League informed one club in Division 1 that they had cancelled a match without the permission of the Division match secretary and would forfeit the points. This caused no little ‘consternation’ on their part and produced a flurry of emails. Would all teams please note that a match cannot be postponed without the approval of the match secretary or they are likely to forfeit the points. 

Congratulations to the winners of the Divisions, Sparta A in Division 1, Eldon B in Division 2,  Wickham Park C in Division 3 and South Croydon F in Division 4. 

A decision was made to retain TT365 for the 2020/21 season as it will be free and there is no longer a charge of £7 per player. TT365 has come to an arrangement with Tees Sports, which may mean an increase in advertising on the site but we will keep it under review. It is understood that the Table Tennis England system has improved markedly from when it was first introduced and the Executive Council will also keep that under review.

Surrey TTA had to cancel the Inter League Competition or else we would have entered a team. 

Surrey is keeping the same affiliation fee for next season and TTE has decided to keep the individual player registration at £16. We voted for Don Parker to be elected deputy chairman of TTE and he received a substantial majority of the vote. 

As the two cup competitions have not yet been played to completion the League has delayed purchasing trophies. After discussion it was agreed that the semi finals and finals of cup competitions can be safely played at South Croydon in accordance with the guidelines of TTE. Chris Harper will contact the teams involved and ask if they are willing to play and if so, Robin Faulkner will agree a date. 

Needless to say, events caused us not to run an annual tournament. 

The Chairman said that he would like to thank all members of the Executive Council for their sterling work throughout the season, whether as a match secretary, treasurer, or, in Robin’s case, organising and running the two cup competitions and Graham Hansen for being the administrator of TT365. 

Finance 

The League will keep the team affiliation fee to £40 for the 2020/21 season. Details of where that should be sent will be given once we know the status of next season. 

Simon Fisher has produced the accounts, attached. You will see that we have a very healthy balance of £1549.04 at the moment although we have yet to order trophies. 

The accounts are self-explanatory thanks to Simon’s meticulous record keeping. 

Election of officers

The present Executive Committee are willing to continue but the League would welcome nominations from anyone to join the Executive Council. The duties are not onerous and the present members are not in the first flush of youth. If some were unable to continue for any reason the League would be placed in real difficulty. 

Any Other Business

There was prolonged discussion over the effects of Coved 19 on table tennis, how clubs are affected and the prospects for the League to resume competitive play. 

TTE gave the go ahead for practice to resume on 25^th July but there are strict conditions with which clubs must comply. 

Hygiene 

Balls should be washed regularly or each player to only use their own ball.

No wiping of hands on the table.

Players to bring their own sanitiser, which should be used pre, post and during play.

Windows and doors should be kept open where possible.

Any persons not playing must wear a face mask.

Players must wipe their side of the table when finishing and there should be a gap of 10 minutes between different players using the table.

Clubs are advised to seek written confirmation from the facility that it is available for play and that it is being cleaned between different hirers.

Clubs should appoint a hygiene officer. 

Managing Sessions 

Clubs should limit numbers and create a booking process.

Full details should be kept of all participants for track and trace purposes, if necessary. 

Club Open Practice 

Clubs should have designated walkways and provide ventilation.

The organiser to wear gloves when setting up and wiping down tables.

Hand gel should be available at the entrance. 

League Table Tennis 

Seating must be outside the court. All spectators must wear face masks.

Some clubs may not have their facility provided to them.

A survey conducted by TTE found that 40% of players are reluctant to return.

Leagues should consider having two smaller half seasons.

Also, a shorter format with perhaps just two players per team. 

Ian O’Connor suggested that teams play each other twice instead of three times, which would limit the length of the season. 

Chris Posford and Robin Faulkner confirmed that Eldon and South Croydon can meet the restrictions and are available for play. Ballards have not yet heard from Royal Russell. 

Chris Harper said that there is much talk of a second wave of Coved 19 in the winter months and if that happens the prospects for normal play are not good. 

He said that TTE regularly update their website with the latest information from Sport England and the Government and he would keep clubs updated. 

Chris Harper thanked all for attending.