27/02/2018 Update
There has been a lot of things happening since the last update.
Grade 1 Coaching Courses
Joe, Adam, Steve "The Judge" Knight, Derek "The Machine" Connop, George "The G-Force" Milburn, Martin "Muz" Brittain & John Chivers have all done day one of the three day course completing in April. Steve, Derek and Muz have also sorted out their DBS clearances and have attended the compulsory Child Safeguarding course. The others will need to do this to get their coaching licence at the end of the course. Although not required for the coaching licence or by TTE we all we need to go on a first aid course. This is something that PTTC want to insist on if you operate as a coach on behalf of PTTC. TTE have been invoiced for £100 per course and they are also funding us an additional £100 to put towards a starter kit for when we can run dedicated junior coaching sessions. I have also got it agreed with the B&DTTA that they will fund 50% of the remaining course costs on completion of the course and on PTTC collectively providing at least 10hrs of coaching deemed beneficial to the Bristol League.
Venue Planning
Derek is meeting with Andrew Mulligan from Gordano Sports Centre on Tuesday 6th March. Derek is going to try and secure the Sunday night slot we currently have beyond the end date of our current hire term (end Aug)
Derek is also going to speak to Andrew about the possibility of PTTC taking on the balcony space in the other hall. The idea is to explore the possibility of using that space exclusively for PTTC. Andrew is open to the idea but obviously there are many factors involved that need to be discussed and worked on. In its present state the balcony is not really suitable but with a few alterations it could be ideal. I have no idea what the cost would be but as this is largely an unused space hopefully there might be a deal to be done. Assuming we could get the space at a price that we can cover TTE would help us apply for a grant to kit it out, tables, barriers, robot etc. The space is bigger enough to have at least six practice tables and it could also accommodate 2 maybe three teams to play league matches. This may not come to anything but it is worth the conversation to explore the possibility.
Partnership With Portishead Youth Centre
Derek and Muz are meeting the Youth Worker at the Portishead Youth Centre on Monday 5th March. We are looking into the possibility of partnering up with them and running PTTC sessions out of the Youth Centre for the Centre users. With 7 of us looking to qualify as grade 1 coaches in April we are building up the personnel where we can do things like this and as we currently don't have the facility in house to set up and these sessions it makes sense for us to take it to them. As with everything new we are looking into there are lots of things to consider and discuss before the Club agrees to anything.
Partnership With Local Residential Homes
Another initiative we are looking into is setting up PTTC run sessions in residential homes. TT has been widely proved to be a beneficial activity for the elderly in slowing down the onset of dementia and providing those with the condition with an activity they can get involved in and enjoy. Derek has sent out and email to a few homes in the local area inviting them to speak to us if they think there is something we can do. TTE are being very supportive on this idea as its quite a specialist area so we would need a lot of support and guidance if we were go down this route sometime in the future.
Development Plan
We are working (with TTE) on producing the Clubs 5 year Plan and the target is to get this completed and signed off at the next AGM 1st Sept. We are currently setting the main clubs objectives and once those have been established we will be putting an action plan in place to achieve them. Each objective will have someone leading it and support will come from the PTTC Committee and TTE under the BeTT scheme we are working under. All members can contribute to the plan and attached below are the current objectives we have identified. I invite anyone to come to me and suggest something to add to the list. Bear in mind that all objectives need to be (if possible) SMART tested and that means they need to be Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant & Time Limited. All ideas welcome just let Derek know.
Portishead TTC Draft Club Development Plan.pdf
26/09/2017 Update
Joe, Steve P and myself met with Lee on the 15th. It was clear that Lee considers us to be a very well run club and a lot of what BeTT can help with are things that we are currently taking care of ourselves anyway. Thank you to everyone who completed the BeTT questionnaire as we used data from this in the meeting. The results of the questionnaire were basically everyone is very happy at the club and the only way that things could improve would be if a) we had a better match venue & b) if there was more choice and availability for coaching opportunities.
I think its fair to say that through the BeTT scheme we will not be able to get any funding towards any plans to fulfil a (long term) dream of having a multi table club venue, however that doesn't mean that we cant get some really good advice about funding options etc outside of BeTT that may one day help us fulfil that dream.
So for the time being we are as we are and with the increase in membership expected this year we will need to discuss how we deal with this increase for the 2018-2019 season to give new members competitive TT. There are already a few ideas on this and these will be discussed in the committee so that we are fully prepared for the influx in membership we are expecting. The website is connecting and I have had two more enquiries to join the club this week.
We gave Lee a list of the people who have expressed a desire to train as grade 1 coaches and umpires. There would be money available to part fund these courses and Lee is currently trying to arrange for a coaching course to take place in Bristol. The details need to be finalised but I will chase him up on that and keep you all posted.
Lee also sent me a template to use to construct a club development plan and I will be presenting this at the next committee meeting and inviting ideas from committee members (and non members) about what we want to be in it. At the moment the shackles are off all ideas are welcome and need to be considered. We will have to be mindful of what is and isn't realistic when actually forming a plan to turn these ideas into reality but for now just let the ideas flow.
That's it for now, but I will update you again after I have heard back from Lee about these courses.
Cheers
25/08/2017 Update
I meet with Shaun Fitzpatrick on Monday (when I should of being playing for Ahoy oops) and we had a good discussion. We seem to be on the same page in that our focus is primarily on our individual clubs but we are open to collaborate wherever possible to grow and improve the TT offering in the local area. Defining the what the "local area" is something that we need to clarify with TTE. TTE are I believe looking to include our clubs into the Bristol area but Shaun and I agreed that we think we are geographically far enough removed from the central Bristol clubs to be looked at as a separate area. We shall see. Joe was unable to make the meeting on Monday but is hoping to join Steve Pratt and myself when we meet Lee from TTE on the 15th Sept. I will update following that meeting.
19/08/2017 Update
The club has been accepted into the BeTT scheme. Derek & Joe are going to meet with Shaun Fitzpatrick on Tuesday 22nd August to discuss the scheme as Nailsea have been accepted into the scheme too. TTE are looking to see where they can provide shared support across an area as well as helping individual clubs. As much as we are behind this and will work with other local providers of TT our primary focus is to see how the BeTT Development scheme can benefit PTTC.
Derek has arranged a meeting with Lee Monk who is our TTE area Development Officer. The meeting is has been arranged for the 15th September at Derek's place at work. I have invited Steve Pratt to the meeting too as Steve and Lee have spoken separately concerning club Welfare issues so it will be good for Steve and Lee to meet. At the moment everything is about fact finding so nothing is being decided or arranged as ultimately any development path the club decides to go on will be a club decision. What would help me in the meeting however is if members can complete the BeTT Survey (see under Online Links) Lee will use data he collects from that survey in the meeting. You can put your name to your answers if you want to but you don't have to. Survey takes about 10mins. Thanks I will keep you all updated here.
This is the scheme that the Club as recently applied to be included in.
Table Tennis England Development Scheme .pdf
We have been accepted into the scheme :)
Application Approval Letter.pdf
