CLUB SESSIONS
I am pleased to say that the disruption with the Sports Hall being laid out for exams, shouldn’t be too bad, we will be in the Sports Hall on the two badminton courts, free of exam tables, at the near end of the hall. So we will have 10 tables available, without restrictions during the exam period, we will just be at the other end of the hall from normal. We have also been given the option of using the match room if required so long as it is empty.
As a reminder to all: our Club Sessions run from 7.00 – 10.00 every Friday night and 9.00 – 12.00 every Saturday morning throughout the year. When you pay for a session (after your first free trial session) you automatically become a ‘member’ of the Club, there is no fee. You just pay a session fee of £2.50 students and £3.50 adults, with reductions for families. Coaching is available, although limited on Friday nights during the season.
With over 120 names on the Club’s attendance register the club is continuing to grow. Although a great deal of this newsletter is about competitive table tennis a good number of us just play socially, to keep active and for enjoyment. However, if you wish to progress and to ultimately play in the League, do let us know, and we will work with you to hopefully achieve this goal. We are fortunate to have 3 current Table Tennis England accredited coaches: Lead Coach Dennis Gibbs, Kevin Nicholls & Jon Cheung, and both Tony Halse and Sonja Ryland also have coaching certificates. We also have several other senior player volunteers who would be happy to help.
Club session with robot feeding Matt Cyron
SOUTH DEVON AND TORBAY TABLE TENNIS LEAGUE
It was another great season for Newton Abbot TTC teams entered in the South Devon & Torbay Table Tennis League:
NA Batmen, for the second consecutive season, finished runners-up in the First Division to the outstanding Torbay Academy 1. Newton Abbot Buzzards, injury prone again, at the end of the season finished in 4th place. Jon Cheung, Dennis Gibbs, Kevin Nicholls, Shaun Gibbs & Naomi Jackson all finished in the top eight of the averages, with Naomi being the only person to beat the Academy’s Kris Piwowar.
NA Falcons were 2nd Division champions, having an excellent second half of the season, winning the Division by 20 points. The Eagles just missed out in fourth, only 3 points off the runners-up spot. The Hawks, newly promoted and with availability issues, struggled towards the foot of the table. Falcons skipper, Giles Tushingham took the award for the best average in the 2nd Division. Ed Crawford, Jim McIvor, David Davies & Andy Tyrrell also made the top eight of the averages.
Division Two Champions – NA Falcons, David Davies, Giles Tushingham, Jeremy Broad, Paul Humphries, Ed Crawford
NA Kestrels finished a creditable 4th in a competitive 3rd Division
Our 4 teams of mainly youngsters and those new to the League, all performed well and gained valuable League experience. Our Owls finished 4th, Kites 5th, Ospreys 6th & Vultures 7th. There were good performances and positions in the averages for Richard Salt, Sam Hiles, Rowan, Rob & Dylan Bayliss.
Our Eagles and Ospreys sides both fought their way through to the Cup semi-finals, missing out to Torbay Academy 1 & 2.
SOUTH DEVON AND TORBAY CLOSED CHAMPIONSHIPS
Several Newton Abbot players took part in the recently-held Closed Championships. The successes being;
Super Veterans Champion – Dennis Gibbs
Veterans Runner-up – Dennis Gibbs
Open Singles Runner-up – Shaun Gibbs
Mixed Doubles Runners-up – Kevin Nicholls + Sonja Ryland
Men’s Doubles Runners-Up – Jon Cheung + Kevin Nicholls
Ladies Singles Winner – Sonja Ryland
Ladies Doubles Runners-up – Sonja Ryland + Ann Morris
There were also excellent performances from 3 of our juniors, Josh Redfern, Henry Greet and Sam Cumber who entered the open events.
NA Buzzards’ Sonja Ryland receiving the Ladies Single cup from League Chairman, George Breyley
CLUBMARK CHALLENGE FOR THE DON BLATCHFORD CUP
This Cup competition is for juniors who regularly attend our club sessions and is scheduled to take place on Saturday 30th June, commencing at 9:00. Competitors will play each other in groups and there will be a plate competition as well, so everyone should get plenty of games. Please do your best to attend.
SUMMER SINGLES LEAGUE
We are intending to run a fun club summer Singles League for 4th Division, junior, novice and non-League players to provide some competitive table tennis through the summer months. The competition is planned to start on Friday 8th June as part of our normal Friday night session, with further rounds every other week through June, July & August. More structured coaching sessions run by Jon Cheung will take place during the off weeks. The competition will be free to enter although normal session fees will apply. There will be lots of trophies, medals and prizes to be won, with the emphasis on enjoyment, with spot prizes for enthusiasm, determination, smiley faces, umpiring, sportsmanship, shot of the night etc as well as trophies for divisional winners at the end of the competition. Details of the competition will be sent to those eligible players I have email addresses for, as well as being available at our club sessions.
While we are trying to provide some competitive play for our beginners, novices and juniors to hopefully see them progress in the league next season, our normal sessions continue for everyone else so please still join us during the summer months. If our more senior Division 1, 2 & 3 players are looking for competition during the summer, check out what Torbay Academy have on offer. Cash prizes to be won there!
ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING
The Club’s Annual General Meeting will be held in the Foyer of the Sports Hall at Teign School on Friday 13th July at 7.30. This will be a brief meeting which is open to all, where there will be a short report on the year, a financial statement/report and election of officers. There will also be a discussion on possible teams for the 2018-19 season.
LEAGUE SEASON 2018-19
Although we have to see the summer off first, we will shortly be trying to draft teams for the next season in the South Devon & Torbay Table Tennis League. Please let Tony or Dennis know your wishes for 2018-19 and we will do our best to fit you in to your preferred team & Division.
For those new to the League: With League and Cup matches there will be approximately 20 matches in the season (late Sep 2018 – Apr 2019). All home matches at the moment are played on a Tuesday or Friday night at Teign School 19.00-22.00, whilst away matches could be any night of the week, in places such as Dawlish, Brixham & Torquay. You require 3 players for each match, and I would hope to have teams of 4-5 players to ensure all fixtures can be fulfilled when individual players are unavailable. You may also get an opportunity to play as a reserve for a higher-ranked team in a higher Division. There is a small financial commitment for registering with Table Tennis England and the League, last season it was a one-off payment of £15 for juniors & £26 for seniors, plus match fee of £5/home match. It may be necessary for parents to help out with transport for the juniors to away matches.
CLUB KIT
Grey T Shirts (£8.50), red match shirts (£12) and black hoodies (£17) all individually printed with your name, team, and club are still available to order from Tony. I am hoping to place the next order early in June so please let me know your requirements ASAP.
GDPR – GENERAL DATA PROTECTION REGULATION
As I am sure you are aware this is bit of a minefield and while the intentions of the regulations are all good it is a nightmare working through it for small clubs. Basically, I keep electronic details of your name, email address, age (if junior), and contact telephone number. As these details have been given willingly by yourselves I should be able to assume that you are happy I keep this record, which is required purely to administer the Club, and will not be passed to any third party, unless you categorically give permission (ie you may wish your details to be passed to Table Tennis England for membership purposes). However, the GDPR require me to get your permission for these records to be held by me on behalf of the Club. This will be the last email/newsletter I will legally be able to send to you if you do not positively respond, giving Newton Abbot TTC permission to hold your details.
General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) – Newton Abbot Table Tennis Club Policy
· The GDPR covers the protection of Members regarding the processing of their personal data
· Newton Abbot TTC has an obligation to protect this data
· Newton Abbot TTC will hold Members’ details securely on a database that is password-protected
· The information held will be controlled by the Club staff
· Members’ details will be used to contact them regarding information pertaining to the club and their membership, as well as any table tennis matters that the club feels of interest to the membership
· A full copy of the Club’s Policy is available for inspection on the Club website
GUIDELINES / POLICIES
The Club’s Guidance notes, Codes of Conduct for coaches, players, members and officials, Child Protection and Equality policies, together with the Club’s Constitution, can be found on the Club’s website - www.tabletennis365.com/newtonabbot or in the noticeboard folder at Club sessions. The Club’s Welfare Officer is also our Chairman and Lead Coach, Dennis Gibbs. Please speak to Dennis if you have any welfare issues regarding the Club.
AND FINALLY
The NA Buzzards’ latest escapade was a mid-week break to Cheddar Woods. The Lodge’s hot tub featured heavily during the break but there was still time to watch Amla & Vince strike centuries at Taunton, walk the Gorge, visit Longleat, Wookey Hole, We the Curious, Za Za Bazaar, SS Great Britain (where the skipper climbed the rigging!) and catch a performance of Miss Saigon! Incriminating pics available on Newton Abbot Buzzards Facebook page!!
NA Buzzards at Cheddar Gorge
A link to this newsletter is sent to all those players who have attended our practice sessions at Teign School in the last few months. If you do not wish to be included on my circulation list please let me know. tonyhalse@hotmail.com
Link to South Devon & Torbay Website for all fixtures and results in the local League www.tabletennis365.com/southdevonandtorbay
DON’T FORGET
PLEASE REPLY TO THE CLUB: tonyhalse@hotmail.com WITH THE FOLLOWING STATEMENT
‘I PERMIT NEWTON ABBOT TTC TO HOLD MY PERSONAL DETAILS IN ACCORDANCE WITH GDPR’
