NEWSLETTER SPRING 2022
A bit early for our now quarterly newsletter but I needed to get the cancelled club sessions bit out to you all.
TEIGN SCHOOL CLOSED - Club Sessions Cancelled
Apologies to all but we have 4 dates ahead when club sessions cannot take place due to the school being closed:
Friday 15th April - Good Friday
Saturday 16th April - Easter Saturday
Friday 3rd June - Queen’s Platinum Jubilee
Saturday 4th June - Holiday weekend
SOUTH DEVON & TORBAY TABLE TENNIS LEAGUE
I’m sure most of you are aware of the fantastic season we had in the local league. More teams and players than ever and with some excellent performances:
1st Division - Winners NA Buzzards, Runners Up NA Batmen, 4th NA Eagles, 5th NA Condors. Leading Averages - 1st Herbie Sage, 2nd Lauren Loosemore, 3rd Kevin Nicholls, 5th Dennis Gibbs.
2nd Division - Winners NA Owls, 3rd NA Falcons, 6th NA Raptors.
Leading Averages - 1st Giles Tushingham, 3rd Jim McIvor, 5th Paul Hine.
3rd Division - Runners Up NA Hawks, 3rd NA Kestrels, 5th NA Ospreys. Leading Averages - 3rd Jackie Whitehorn, 5th Andy Millman.
4th Division - 3rd NA Kites, 5th NA Harriers, 6th NA Merlins, 7th NA Vultures. Leading Averages - 3rd Keith Haslam.
My sincere thanks to all players and particularly the team captains/contacts who organised their teams so well throughout the season.
SOUTH DEVON & TORBAY TABLE TENNIS LEAGUE’S ANNUAL CLOSED TOURNAMENT
To round off an excellent league season, Newton Abbot TTC players had a clean sweep of all the major titles in the league’s annual tournament.
Burton Cup (mens singles) - Winner Herbie Sage, Runner Up Dennis Gibbs.
Knight Cup (ladies singles) - Winner Naomi Jackson, Runner Up Sonja Ryland
Mens Doubles - Winners Herbie Sage & Kevin Nicholls, Runners Up Dennis Gibbs & Bob Parkins
Ladies Doubles - Winners Sonja Ryland & Jackie Whitehorn
Mixed Doubles - Winners Sonja Ryland & Kevin Nicholls, Runners Up Naomi Jackson & Mark Burridge
Veterans - Winner Dennis Gibbs, Runner Up Kevin Nicholls
Super Veterans - Winner Dennis Gibbs
Congratulations to all the above and a big thank you to all other competitors who made it an excellent tournament.
VETERANS COUNTY
Three of our club members, Kevin Nicholls, Sonja Ryland and Mike Hugh, joined with Paul Laverty to represent Devon vets last weekend at Westbury. Two fine wins against Dorset 7-3 and Wiltshire 2nds 9-1 saw Devon clinch the Division 2D title and earn promotion, undefeated all season. Brilliant, well done!
PARKHOUSE PAIRS
Positive feedback from the last newsletter regarding an early summer pairs competition encouraged me to set up the current competition PARKHOUSE PAIRS LEAGUE. Kindly sponsored by Fred Wakefield of Parkhouse Furniture Restoration & Upholstery. We currently have 65 players signed up to 21 teams, with players and pairs from Dawlish, Halwell, Brixham, Torbay Academy and Taverners as well as pairs from most of our own club’s teams. The competition will run through April and May with play-offs between the divisions in early June. For further details and to check out results, tables, averages etc go to our club website. Many thanks to all who have signed up and hope you have an enjoyable competition. Also a big thank you to Parkhouse Restorers for sponsoring the event, please check out their services.
https://www.parkhouserestorers.co.uk/
CLUB MATCH AND T SHIRTS
Purple match shirts, in all sizes, are now available for just £8 and T shirts for just £5 each thanks to the generosity of our sponsor, Albany Florists. These are available at club sessions to anyone who wants one.
We are hoping to get enough interest to purchase a batch of purple club hoodies, again being sponsored by Albany Florists, which could be available if there is enough interest at just £15 each. Please let us know if you would like one (there shouldn’t be a 3 month delay as I believe these are in stock!)
TABLE TENNIS BATS & OTHER SPECIALIST TT EQUIPMENT
I have a number of excellent new bats suitable for beginners and lower league players at just £15 each, including a bat case. These have been specially put together to aid coaching in the early stage of development and are recommended by top club coaches.
Any other equipment can be bought from Bribar through the club which will enable savings to be made on catalogue and website prices. Speak to me if you require anything.
CLUB SESSIONS
Just a reminder that our club sessions run alongside the PARKHOUSE Pairs league on Friday nights 6:30 - 10:00pm, but with limited coaching opportunities as several coaches will be involved in matches (session fee £3 juniors and £5 adults). The Saturday morning session now runs from 9:30 – 11:30 (session fee £3 juniors and £4 adults).
STUDENTS / TEIGN SCHOOL
Our link with Teign School is growing with several students joining us. We are hoping to run an after-school club on Wednesdays after Easter. The club have now received 2 new Butterfly match tables, suitable for school use, organised through the school which in turn supplied the school with a decent number of good bats and balls.
SOUTH DEVON AND TORBAY TABLE TENNIS LEAGUE EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE
The South Devon & Torbay Table Tennis league currently has several vacancies on its executive committee.
This is not an onerous task, there are just 4-5 meetings a year where decisions are made on the running of league competitions and is there to assist and encourage the formation of table tennis clubs and to promote the game of table tennis in every possible way.
Although the committee is made up of members of several different clubs, decisions made at committee are made in the best interest of the league as a whole. It is imperative that this continues to be the case in the future, so it’s vital we have a strong voice on this committee.
The committee are looking for honest, rational, reliable and level headed table tennis enthusiasts who are willing to spare some time to assist with running our league and to help ensure ‘that all activities of the league and its members reflect a high standard of integrity and sportsmanship’.
I can pass your name on if you might be interested.
The South Devon & Torbay Table Tennis League’s Annual General Meeting is being held at Kingskerswell Cricket Club, Manor Drive, Kingskerswell TQ12 5HB on 12th May 2022 @ 7.30pm.
CLUB COMPETITIONS
Due to the success of the PARKHOUSE Pairs League our club competitions will be held back until the end of the Summer. The Albany Florists Cup, Don Blatchford Cup and the Singles Shield will be scheduled to take place throughout September 2022.
