On 21st February 2024, the players at the regular Wednesday evening junior practice drills hosted by Simply Table Tennis were surprised by a visit from the Hastings and District Table Tennis Association chair Dave Watters and its League Secretary Paul Hyland. The reason for their arrival was to acknowledge the outstanding contribution made to grass roots junior table tennis by the association's Development Officer Kevin Long.
In front of the junior players, their coaches and other members of the HDTTA committee, Dave spoke in praise of Kevin's work amongst the local schools and of his tireless efforts to encourage young people to take up the sport. Kevin’s dedication has been a key reason for the increase in the number of young people registering to play in our local league and he is a worthy recipient of a Pride of Table Tennis Award from Table Tennis England.
Kevin's successful endeavours in organising and hosting a variety of Cadet and Junior events locally during his time as Development Officer have been a genuine highlight of the association's recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic and he deserves the thanks of the whole membership for his good work. Together with the long term impact of James Gorridge's Simply Table Tennis initiative, there are many reasons to be optimistic about the future of our local league.
Thank you Kevin.
