AUGUST 2009

Editorial

ast year I reported the sad loss of our then President Bert Robinson. This year I have to report the even sadder loss of Rebecca Wright who was less than half the age of Bert. She had a couple of strokes and then tests arising from that disclosed that she had breast cancer. She lasted only a very short time after this.

Those who knew Rebecca will know that she had Downs syndrome but her parents encouraged her to live life to the full, of which she took every advantage, playing many sports and getting involved in all sorts of activities including going on skiing trips. She was a good table tennis player, representing England on many occasions in the Special Olympics. She was a regular over many years at our Tuesday evening session along with her father Chris and many of you would have got to know her from this. I was one of those and often we would be partners in some very enjoyable fun games but she took them very seriously and we tried very hard to win. She was a winner in every respect - as a player and as a person and I will miss her as I am sure all those who knew her will. Peter Avenell, Nora Martin and I attended a celebration of her life at her church at which there were over 300 attendees. Consequently, it was standing room only – it was a very touching tribute to her life and the lives of all with whom she came into contact.

Please note our September starting dates shown at the bottom of this page. Included in this mailing is our updated handbook for the season 2009/10 where you will find subscription rates, details of all sessions and important dates. In addition, in response to the many queries that coaches get about bats and rubbers there is an article gleaned from the English Table Tennis Association website that you may find of interest. It is to be found on page 13. You will also find details of the committee and it is gratifying to have a few new members - Andy Bennett as Secretary and we welcome back Lee Balaam. What we are missing, however, is a junior representative so if any of our junior members are interested please speak to one of our committee. It would not be necessary to attend committee meetings but we do find it useful to get the views of our young players and this has proved to be a good way of doing it in the past.

We are entering four teams in the Bury League which is double that of the recent years – more of this later in the newsletter. Many of our youngsters did well last season and there are reports on some of the achievements. Have a great season!

Tony Mooney

2009 Season - Start dates

Daytime Club at St Peter’s Hall - Monday 7^th September

Junior Academy – Monday 7^th September

Open Club – Tuesday 1^st September

Over 50s – St Peter’s Hall – Thursday 3^rd September

Beginners/Improvers’ Coaching – Friday 11^th September

Membership Forms

nclosed with this newsletter is the membership form for the coming season. Can I ask that you all complete one – it is important to have one for every member including those of you who do not normally bother because you have filled one in the past and think that it is not necessary to do it again. The form is based on an English Table Tennis Association (ETTA) template and contains sections on which we have to report under PremierClub. Next year the ETTA is introducing individual membership – see the article below.

As before, the form includes questions on medical conditions and disability as it is important for us to know this if possible in the event of an emergency but also because the ETTA needs to know when making a case for funding for our sport. Sport England wants evidence that the sport is catering for all people. Information from this is provided to those leading each of the club sessions for use if there is an emergency.

Over 50’s Garden Party

he over 50’s group who meet on Thursday afternoons at St Peter’s Hall have social events from time to time and this has been going on for some years dating, I think, from when they used to play at the Leisure Centre. In the middle of July the latest of these was a garden party at the home of Bernard and Brenda Phipps in Bacton. Early on it rained quite heavily and cover had to be taken by all including cover from that cover that was leaking!!

The rain did not last very long and the sun reappeared for the rest of the after-noon. The lunch was first-rate and the Phipps were excellent hosts. The day before had been Brenda’s 80^th birthday and Peggy Took’s was coming up within a few weeks. Peggy had brought a cake which was in the shape of, and decorated as, a table tennis table. Happy birthday was duly sung, cake cut and enjoyed by all. Although these two have achieved this great age they are not our oldest players – this honour goes to Margaret Birch and Jean Frazer who are more than a few years older. It is good to see how active this group of players remain and an example to all. It was Bernard who said some time ago that some people give up too soon and the evidence of the benefits of continuing to play was clearly to be seen.

Once the leisurely lunch was out of the way it was time for a little light exercise in the form of boules and, of course, table tennis. Bernard put a table on the lawn and most people had a game. It certainly was different!

Many thanks to Brenda and her toy boy, Bernard (he is only 79 after all!) for being such excellent hosts and for the very good lunch. There was a lot of laughter and it was good for this writer, a veritable youngster in comparison, to be part of this group whose enthusiasm for life is clear for all to see.

Many thanks to Peter Dakeyne for the photographs.

It would be good to see more social events going on within the club so if anyone has any ideas, especially if you are prepared to organise them, please let a member of the committee know.

League Teams for Coming Season

or the first time in many years a sub committee was appointed to select teams on merit and to come up with procedures that would ensure as far as possible that teams would turn out each week with a full compliment, something that did not happen often enough with our first team as a result of an unfortunate set of circumstances, mainly illness and sickness. The sub committee comprises Lee Balaam, Andy Bennett and Tony Mooney. As there has been an increase in the number of players who want to play we have been able to double our entry from two to four teams. They are three of 3 a side and one of 2 a side. They are made up as follows:

Division 1	Division 2	Division 2	2 a side
Eagles	Jaguars	Leopards	Pumas
Lee Balaam (Secretary)	Andy Bennett (Secretary)	Keith George	Tony Mooney (Secretary)
Martin Chamberlain	Terry Betts	Colin Belcher	Graham Hickman
Ian Brown	Carol Clarke	Mel Redit	Chris Porter
Granville Sutton	Sandra Balaam	Ray Zhu	Harry Hughes
David Aldous	Mark Cook	Martin Hiskey

Andy Bennett will act as non- playing Secretary for the Leopards.

All teams should be playing at home at the same time and it is hoped that this will help build a club spirit. There is also an agreed strategy of players in the lower divisions to act as cover if required for the teams in the higher divisions although this would be on a voluntary basis. We are happy that there are enough players to be able to do this. Finally, to help preparation for the coming season and to help with team building two practice sessions for league players only have been arranged. They will be at St Peter’s Hall, Stowmarket on Saturdays 22^nd August and 5^th September.

National Cadet League

We entered 4 teams in the NCL this season, and Chris Porter, Ruairidh Penman and Lucy Zhu were the ‘A’ team in the first division. They found the going tough finishing in 4^th place. The ‘B’ team of Alex & Liam Holmes and Liam Pinney won the second division, with all three above 90% and Liam Holmes achieving 100%. The ‘C’ team consisted of Sam & Max Betts-Davies and William Eden did well finishing in joint 4^th place. The ‘D’ team had six players - Rachel & Hannah West, Emma Baker, Connor Laird, Harry Hughes and Alasdair Penman. The team was initially entered with the first three players, but after the first two rounds it turned out that they could not play so the other three players were brought in and did very well and gained second place. Our juniors have done very well this season with two wins and a runner up.

Suffolk/Cambridgeshire Border League

For the 2008-09 season Stowmarket entered one team in Division two of the Suffolk and Cambridge Border League. The first of four Saturdays was on the 1^st November. The team for the day was Connor Laird and Jack Samson. This was Connor’s first experience of playing table tennis competitively. He won all his singles and the only defeat he experienced was in the doubles match against Strikers. This was Jack’s second season and saw him win his first singles match at this level. The day went well with the team winning 3 out of 4 of their matches. The only defeat was to Strikers by a score of 2-3. This left the team in equal first position with Strikers with a score of 15 points.

The second Saturday took place on the 22^nd November. Chris Barker joined Connor and Jack for the day. Conner and Jack played in 3 matches and Chris in two. The team won all four matches and found themselves top of the table. This was Chris’s debut and he played very well, not losing any matches. The third week took place on Saturday 17^th January. Chris and Connor played two matches winning both. This left the team top of the table with an almost unassailable lead. The final round of matches took place on 21^st February. The team of Connor, Chris and Jack won their last two matches comfortably, securing the title. A special mention should go to Connor who didn’t lose any of the 22 single matches he played.

On 28^th February, the individual tournaments took place. Again success came the way of Stowmarket players. Connor Laird (Stowmarket) reached the Under 13 Singles 2009 final losing to Will Hall. Connor Laird and Chris Barker, both of Stowmarket reached the Second Division Singles final with Connor winning this time. The day finished off with both team and individual presentations.

Pictured are left to right, Jack, Chris & Connor.

The final league table for division two and the averages for our players were as below:

Div 2	Pld	W	Pts
Stow	12	11	47
Strikers	12	8	33
Wasps	12	5	30
Panthers	12	6	29
Essence	12	3	26
Effort	12	5	23
Beavers	12	4	22

Name	Pld	W	%
Connor Laird	22	22	100
Chris Barker	8	7	88
Jack Samson	18	10	56

Lucy Goes from Success to Success

In her first full season of competition Lucy Zhu has achieved a great deal. As already reported in the report of the National Cadet League on the previous page she has played in the 1^st division where she has played mainly against older boys and she acquitted herself well.

In the Suffolk County Championships in the girls U13 event, she and Rachel West topped their respective groups with the runners-up spots being secured by Megan Bollen, another member of our club, who showed real determination in her three group wins. Both semi-finals saw comfortable wins for Rachel and Lucy, both county players. In an attractive four set final Rachel ran out a worthy champion 11-4, 11-9, 8-11, 11-6 but later on Lucy was to have her revenge in the U15 event – this was played on a round robin basis with 5 girls contesting this final. With both girls winning three games each this championship was settled by a more consistent performance from Lucy who defeated a shocked Rachel in 3 straight sets 12-10, 11-9, 11-8. There will no doubt be some great battles ahead. Lucy went on to win the mixed doubles with Jake Collins.

To cap her season, Lucy was presented with the Suffolk Young Player of the Year award at the County AGM in June. Very well done Lucy and hopefully you will continue to develop and go from strength to strength!