The RDTTA Committee have considered the advice from UK government and Table Tennis England before making decisions about completion of the 2019/20 season and what might happen for the 2020/21 season.
Summary:
The 2019/20 league season has been declared finished, as it is difficult to foresee a return to playing league table tennis until possibly January at the earliest. Final league placings and averages will be as they were when league matches had to stop due to lockdown.
The 2019/20 cup competitions cannot be completed so will be declared null and void.
2019/20 Presentation Evening - will be held at a later date, perhaps amalgamated with the 2020/21 event.
2019/20 AGM - will be held as and when possible, perhaps using a video conferencing facility.
In the meantime, the RDTTA Committee members will retain their current positions.
The 2020/21 season cannot currently be planned, due to the unavailability of venues. This situation will be reviewed during the coming months and it is hoped that some form of competitive play can be arranged whenever venues become available for our clubs.
TTE membership for 2020/21: the decision on whether to renew TTE membership is one for each individual to make, but until a decision has been made on whether and when there will be a Reading League competition in 2020/21 there is no need for our players to renew their TTE membership … until or unless you intend to play in any other TTE competition or event.
The details behind some of these decisions are given below.
When will we be able to play table tennis indoors and have competitive matches?
Currently no date has been announced by the Government for indoor play, but it may be possible in September.
TTE statement: “League and competitive table tennis is likely to be one of the last parts of the sport to return.”
TTE Guidance for competitive play:
Stage 1 Play at home – current status
Stage 2 Limited Club Activity – TTE guidance on preparing, from 25th July
Stage 3 Preparing for Local Competition – TTE to provide advice
Stage 4 Local Competition Resumption – will be with various restrictions
Stage 5 Full play - ???
Availability of Venues
League matches & other competitive play will be dependent on the availability of venues. For most Reading clubs their venue is owned by a landlord, hall committee, etc, who will make their own decisions about whether & when their venues can be used for table tennis. At the moment we believe that no venues are allowing table tennis to be played.
Kingfisher TTC have their own premises and expect to start club play soon, but this will only be for their members and with strict guidelines and several restrictions in place, based on advice from TTE. They do not expect any league matches taking place at their venue in the foreseeable future.
RDTTA will be in contact with all clubs to request information from them about whether & when their venue might be available for club play / friendly matches / league matches, what restrictions they will have in place, how many tables they are likely to have available. Clubs will be asked to keep RDTTA up to date with any changes in this information, to help with planning for future seasons.
Players’ views on whether they want to play?
It is recognised that some players are shielding or just don’t want to risk playing in an enclosed space with five or more others. For some players this may be a temporary decision but it is understood that others may decide to retire from playing any further table tennis.
Doubles Matches
Currently the TTE advice is that doubles matches should not be played at all. Clearly this makes it impossible to play any further matches in the Knockout Cup.
Attempt to complete 2019/20 season?
If matches could be played this would allow RDTTA, Clubs & players to assess the difficulties & find solutions to playing matches with Covid-19 around and the related restrictions that would have to be in place. However the problems with access to venues, the restrictions being imposed on competitive play and some players not being willing to play in the current circumstances make it difficult to foresee a return to playing league table tennis until possibly January 2021 at the earliest. Even then not all venues may be available.
For these reasons, the RDTTA Committee have decided the 2019/20 league season should be declared finished.
Final league placings and averages will be as they were when league matches had to stop due to lockdown.
The 2019/20 cup competitions cannot be completed so will be declared null and void.
