NEWSLETTER - February 2019
CLUB SESSIONS
Good numbers at all sessions since Christmas, with several new faces. Our club’s ethos is just to get folk of all ages active, and if we can help them enjoy the sport and improve, so much the better. We have a good number of coaches and volunteers happy to help new players learn the game, and existing players improve.
SOUTH DEVON AND TORBAY TABLE TENNIS LEAGUE
Its been a pretty decent season for all of our teams competing in the local League so far:
Division One - NA Batmen currently lie in the runners-up position, trailing the excellent Torbay Academy 1 side by 11 points. The Buzzards, again hit by injuries, are just 4 points behind the Batmen in third. The Condors, in their first season in the top flight are a bit off the pace and struggling to put out their best side each week and currently lie in 5th place. Dennis Gibbs heads the clubs list of players in the top 10 of the averages with 80%, closely followed by Kevin Nicholls, Herbie Sage and Shaun Gibbs.
Division Two – Our Eagles currently lead the 2nd Division, but it is very close, just 2 points ahead of Torbay Academy 2. NA Falcons are currently 5th with a game in hand and will be looking to climb the table over the coming weeks. The Eagles’ Jim McIvor, Ed Crawford and Andy Tyrrell all feature in the top five of the averages.
NA Eagles - Ed Crawford, Jim McIvor, Andy Tyrrell
Division Three – Three teams look to be battling it out for the 3rd Division title. Current leaders Marldon Tykes have just a three-point lead over our Hawks, and Torbay Academy 3 are twelve points behind the leaders, but have two games in hand. Our Kestrels were going really well until an unfortunate encounter with the leaders, but will still be looking to secure their place in 4th behind the top three, who have a massive lead over the rest. Hawks’ Ben Swettenham is 3rd in the averages with 79%, Doug Morgan and Pete Sercombe also feature in the top ten.
Division Four – A really good effort from both our Owls and Kites sides playing in the Fourth Division. Consisting mainly of youngsters, both sides have performed well in their first season not playing in the lowest division. The Owls currently lie in third with the Kites just 8 points behind them in fifth. Rowan Bayliss is currently 4th in the averages with an excellent 79%.
Division Five – Our three teams in the Fifth Division are all going well and picking up valuable experience. The Ospreys are third,but have a game in hand over the Brixham Seals just above them. Our Vultures are on a fine run of form and have moved up the table to fourth. The Merlins are not far behind and will certainly be looking to improve their position. The Ospreys’ Rob Ferguson is 2nd in the averages, with the Vultures Andy Guy and Kevin Payne also featuring in the top 10.
NA Merlins v NA Vultures
Can I remind all League players that matches commence at 19:00. To enable this to happen you must be at Teign School by 18:45 at the latest, to warm up. Arriving at 18:30 would be better still to help set up your match area. Remember we have to vacate the Sports Hall by 22:00 so play MUST be continuous.
While the tables in the Sports Hall are left up, the tables in the match room, surrounds, umpires table, chairs, black curtain etc all need to be removed after your match. Please can all players assist with this.
DEVON VETERANS
Devon Vets, featuring two of our coaches, Kevin Nicholls and Sonja Ryland, have started the season well.
Kevin writes: Devon Veterans travelled up to Westbury in Wiltshire last Saturday hoping to continue our fine form this season. We started well in the morning with a 7-3 win against Hampshire and then followed that with a marathon match against a formidable Wiltshire team. Nearly four hours later, Mike (Hugh) & Sonja clinched the last mixed doubles to sneak a fine 6-4 win. A very competitive and successful day of table tennis played in great spirit by all players. Well done TEAM Devon.
Kevin failed to mention that in the singles he was unbeaten in both matches!
Devon Vets - Kevin Nicholls & Sonja Ryland
NEWTON ABBOT TTC COMMITTEE
At a recent committee meeting we reviewed and updated many of our Policies and Codes of Conduct. These should be read by our members and can be found under Information on our website, link below:
https://www.tabletennis365.com/NewtonAbbot/Container/Codes_of_Conduct/16417
Amongst other items of interest discussed were:
· New club tournaments at the end of the season ie Open Singles and Doubles events either on a Friday night or Saturday morning
· A coaching session from top player and coach Craig Bryant
· More structured coaching sessions in the early summer – ie an 8 week course……..
· Table Tennis England / Newton Abbot TTC Young Ambassadors programme for 14 to 19 year olds
· Purchasing more tables.
· Requesting extra help from members in setting up the venue on Friday nights from 18:15. If there are any folk out there who could join us a bit earlier it would be appreciated.
· Communications with members
It would be good to hear from you regarding any of the above; please speak to our current committee members if you would like to help, offer preferences, express interest, or you have any other views or comments on how the club is run and what you would like to see in the future.
Current Committee – Dennis Gibbs (Chair) Tony Halse (Secretary/Treasurer) Mike Dummett, Rob Bayliss, Sonja Ryland, Kevin Nicholls
Kevin, Mike, Sonja & Dennis relaxing in hot tub after their Committee meeting
MONDAY – Extra chance for a practice
We now hire the AMS at Teign School on most Monday nights just for an hour between 6 – 7pm. This is an opportunity to come along with someone and have an intense hour’s practice. There is limited space so please talk to Tony if you want to take advantage of this extra chance to practice.
SOUTH DEVON & TORBAY ANNUAL CLOSED TABLE TENNIS TOURNAMENT – TORBAY LEISURE CENTRE
Make a note in your diary and keep Sunday 28th April free. Junior events, Divisional events, Singles, Doubles etc. Many competitions to enter, open to all registered League players, (although Under 13s do not have to be registered league players) further details to follow........
TABLE TENNIS BATS
I have had another supply of blades and rubbers from China and have made up a number of good quality bats at £20 each. I also have a couple of new Butterfly Skills Junior bats, excellent for those just starting up @ £15 each.
CLUB KIT
Club Hoodies, T-Shirts and match shirts can still be ordered from Tony. Hoodies £17, Match Shirts £12 and T Shirts £8.50, or all three for £35. All garments individually printed with your name, team and club. These are available to anyone at the club, not just league players. Try on a sample to select your size at a club session.
Please check out our Facebook page to keep in touch with what is going on. A good number of photos from matches together with a weekly report is usually added late on a Friday night. Join up, comment and like, its good to know that folk are reading it! The latest Facebook post is on the righthand side panel of our website. Click on the panel to see it.
NATIONAL GOVERNING BODY – TABLE TENNIS ENGLAND
As a Table Tennis England Premier Club all our regular players should be affiliated to Table Tennis England. As mentioned above all League players MUST join Table Tennis England as player members to enable them to play League table tennis. We are fortunate in our club to have a good number of social players and youngsters learning the game, who attend our sessions regularly and should therefore be registered as Associate members of Table Tennis England – this membership is free and does have some benefits – see the attached link for details or speak to Tony who can sign you up.
LEAGUE TABLE TENNIS, IS IT FOR YOU?
For those new to the club and hoping to progress into playing League table tennis, we are in mid-season at present, with our 12 League teams generally having plenty of players signed on, however, occasionally teams struggle to get a side out, so please let us know if you could be available to help out, often at short notice.
League table tennis matches are all on weekday evenings Oct - Apr. A team consists of 3 players each playing 3 singles sets, with 2 of the players also playing one doubles; the evening’s table tennis is usually about 3 hours long, starting at 7 o’clock. At present, most matches are on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays. All home fixtures are played on Tuesday or Friday nights at Teign School; other venues at present are at Torquay Academy, Brixham Community Centre, Torre, Dawlish Leisure Centre, Marldon, Denbury, Bishopsteignton, and Halwell.
While there is no cost to join Newton Abbot Table Tennis Club, there are fees for League players who must join Table Tennis England (currently Seniors £16, Juniors £8) and pay team and individual League fees (currently Seniors £12, Juniors £8). In addition there is a £5 match fee payable for each home match to cover the cost of the venue. League fees are reduced if joining after the start of the season, with no League fees for temporary membership (2 matches only). These fees will be further reduced / waived if you are helping the club out at short notice and are unlikely to play very often.
AND FINALLY!
The Buzzards!! Its been a tad quiet on the Buzzard front in January but before Christmas; we had an evening out in the company of comedian Tank Sherman, went for a ride on the train of lights from Paignton to Kingswear, enjoyed an evening with ABBA Forever in Torquay, had a Christmas meal at Smokey Joe’s and another at the Belgrave. We also had a fun time at our last Saturday morning session before Christmas dressing up and putting on an exhibition match. We’re all heading off on tour to Cologne to celebrate our star man’s 50th at the end of the month so look out for more pics and reports!
Link to South Devon & Torbay website for all information, fixtures and results in the local League www.tabletennis365.com/southdevonandtorbay
