News Archive - August 2011
Ping Arrives in Horsham Park! 
An outdoor table tennis table has been installed in Horsham Park for open access to the public near to the Conservatory Café.
Outdoor table tennis developments in projects like Ping London have recently driven renewed interest in the sport. Sport England’s national participation survey shows table tennis as one of the fastest growing sports in the country so the time is right for Horsham to get in on the act.
Horsham Table Tennis Club has worked with Horsham District Council and Denne Neighbourhood Council to secure the funding, consultation and necessary permissions for the new facility.
Equipment will be available to purchase or hire from the reception at the nearby Pavilions in the Park or alternatively people can bring their own.
Horsham Table Tennis Club is hoping that the table will give the indoor sport increased visibility and profile and that some new players might be motivated to improve and compete by giving a visit to their nearby base at Greenway School. The Club is also keen to run the occasional exhibition and promotional ventures on the table.
Table tennis is an Olympic sport and at Beijing in 2008 attracted some of the largest television audiences of the Games. At top level it involves lightning fast reflexes, high fitness levels, incredible dexterity and, in a sport where you cannot hide when the going gets tough, a strong mentality.
At the base of the participation pyramid table tennis is a game you can enjoy from eight to eighty years of age and one which offers an enjoyable way to keep fit, socialize and master new skills.
Whatever motivates people to play it is expected that the outdoor table tennis table will become a popular feature of Horsham Park.
Ping Pong By The Sea
Saturday August 20th saw over 400 people play Ping Pong at a free taster session on Brighton seafront in front of the iconic West Pier.
The event was organised by Brighton and Hove City Council in partnership with Hollingbury TTC and Brighton City TTC and perfect weather conditions allowed for wind free outdoor Table Tennis from 11-5pm.
Police, seafront officers, lifeguards and the beach cleaning team all took part- some excellent
After another successful Ping Pong showcase, Ping Brighton is hopefully on its way and we will have outdoor tables scattered city-wide in the summer of 2012!
For pictures see www.brightontabletennisclub.co.uk/gallery and www.hollingburyttc.co.uk
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Brighton City Buzzing
A successful Sport England bid in partnership between Patcham High School and Brighton City TTC means that the school is now equipped with seven shiny new top of the range Butterfly table tennis tables from Tees Sport. The award is also paying for four outdoor permanent concrete tables that will allow pupils to play before school from as early as 6.30 in the morning when the caretakers open up until 7 at night when they get thrown out!
Patcham House special school, Carden Primary School and Patcham's other feeder schools will all benefit from the Ping Pong provision and professional coaching that is now set up at Patcham High School that has 1000 students.Tim Holtam and Wen Wei Xu, with the support of five teenage newly qualified ETTA Level 1 Coaches, will be running breakfast, lunch and after school sessions that will be on offer to over 1500 students. This will be on top of the targeted group work with special educational needs (SEN) pupils and those at risk of exclusion, which has proven to be hugely successful in engaging and motivating pupils about attending and succeeding at school.
With Hollingbury TTC setting up at the BACA Academy (formerly Falmer School), there is inevitably going to be some excellent competition between the two schools, which can only be a good thing for the future and prospects of table tennis in this part of the country.
Bring it on!!
Article by Tim Holtam
Jarvis Camp Goes Down a Storm 
The Nick Jarvis Summer Camp being run at Greenway School in Horsham this week has been a great success. All days on the camp have been fully booked and the participants have been enjoying and benefiting from the coaching maestro's knowledge and experience.
The appearance of ETTA Regional Coach, Craig Bryant on four of the five days has been a surprise and most welcome addition. Martin Jezisek has also been providing some excellent coaching and multiball as part of the top quality coaching team. Chinese sparrer/multiballer and local legend Wen Wei has also made some cameo appearances in the week.
Various parts of the south-east region have been represented. Kent has sent two of its young pocket battleships - Dan Lawrence and James Smith - to benefit. Dan's grown a bit of late so the bombs he throws down are no longer a surprise but 10 year old James' efforts do warrant regular double-takes; he only just sees over the table but opponents soon realise he's there when his returns hit the table at speed and go past them.
South-West Sussex has been strongly represented with Lois Peake, Finny Wilson and Adam Correll constituting an excellent crop of talent that has worked hard on the camp. Mike and Ellie Stringer from East Sussex have both applied themselves well to the opportunity. Lim Tang and Sam Lu from Lancing also did well on the day they attended and Sam in particular was identified by Nick Jarvis as one to watch in the future.
Tim Holtam's Brighton City crew has also trained with distinction. Lads like Paul Bergin, David Pringuer and George Tester are all promising teenage players and will definitely go back to competing for their club this coming season as stronger players. Joe Russell, Sarah Hill and Brandon Duke may be younger and less experienced but they have also trained in dedicated fashion and will go back to the South Coast with plenty of knowledge and ideas to play with.
Between all the sessions of hard work there have also been some lighter moments. Nick Jarvis invited 12 year old Joe Russell to an impromptu fitness challenge of press-ups and sit-ups. Dan Lawrence won the end of week singles competition but his success was somewhat tainted when it was revealed he'd been spotted using hairspray.
Craig Bryant sensationally took over the title of Sussex's best penholder by beating Wen Wei on two separate occasions. Wen Wei's reaction to the devastating loss of his crown was to shake his head and say "Me not happy." If the news gets back to China they may not ever allow him back such will be the dent to national pride.
See the photos of the week taken by Brighton City by clicking here
Sussex Trials 2011
By Peter Baldwin
The Sussex County Table Tennis Association will be holding its annual junior trials on the 27h and 28th August at K2 Crawley, Pease Pottage Hill, RH11 9BQ. A decision this year was made not to have preliminary trials but to hold final trials over 2 days. The cadet boys trials will be on the 27th and the junior boys and both cadet and junior girls events on the 28th. Cadets may enter for both days if they wish.
Players wishing to attend one or more of the trials should let Peter Baldwin know as soon as possible by email or phone 07778 428858. Note the trials are open to anyone of any standard as the SCTTA is not only looking for players for the current season but potential to play in future seasons.
The days will commence at 10am and go on to 5pm. It may be necessary to restrict entry if numbers dictate so Peter would be grateful if you reply as soon as possible. Entries will be confirmed.
All junior entrants must have been born on or after the 1st January 1994 and all cadets on or after 1st January 1997. If you are unable to attend on the day of your category consideration will be given to try to fit you into another category thus if a junior boy or girl cannot play on the 28th we will try to fit them into the cadet boys event on the 27th if able to play that day.
Sussex currently has six Junior representative teams, three at under 18 and three at under 15. All players taking part will receive a Sussex ranking which will appear on the Sussex TTA website in due course.
The trials will help determine Sussex rankings and representation for the forthcoming season.
Please note that we ask for a contribution of £7 towards the venue hire costs but we consider that very inexpensive for a days’ entertainment. That can actually be paid on the day.
Sussex 4-Star Entry Building Well
Sussex Junior/Cadet 4-Star organiser Steve Pound has said that with over four weeks remaining over 80 entries have so far been received, so things look well on track for a successful event
As a reminder the event will run over the weekend 24/25th September at the Triangle Leisure Centre, Burgess Hill
Elite Centre Promotes Phase 10
The Sussex Junior Elite Centre will re-start on Monday 5th September at D Block in Sackville School, East Grinstead.
Phase 10 will run for seven weeks and will continue to bed led by coaches Martin Jezisek, Craig Bryant and Marc Burman and involve sparrers Mayur Majithia, Amila Thilikarathne, Ian Ford and Lucas. Chinese multiball expert Wen Wei will be throwing down more balls the table in rapid style and sports scientist Tim Holder will be making the occasional visit to confer his psychological wisdom.
Click here to see the Phase 10 sign-up form. The Centre is always on the look out to engage additional junior talent in the south-east region so contact Ian Ford on 07764-146338 if you think you've got what it takes.
Regional Centre to Open in Brighton
23 youngsters, most from Sussex, have been invited to a new South-East Regional Centre at Falmer School in Brighton being organised by ETTA Regional Coach Craig Bryant.
The Centre will start on 15th September and will run two nights a week - Thursdays 8-10pm and Friday 7-9pm
Bryant commented, "We are in a very fortunate position to have access to the school's brand new facilities. We will have new equipment, sports hall, fitness suit and other sports rooms."
The coaching will not be just another session. Players will be working to an annual programme and a select few will be working even closer with Bryant on specific fitness training, testing, practice plans, annual plans, goal setting etc. Anyone who shows commitment, trains hard and wants the extra help will get it.
The idea of the centre is not only to produce good national players; Bryant wants to produce top quality international players.
According to Bryant, "If you want to be a professional, full-time table tennis player then this programme will be the first step to making that commitment."
The Regional Centre dovetails with the Sussex Junior Elite Centre which runs on Monday nights to ensure that talented juniors in the county have three high quality training opportunities to help them reach their goals.
Central Perks 
The Crawley/Horsham League is expanding its central venue concept next season on Thursday nights. At its recent AGM it agreed to continue its expanded Premiership of 12 teams, including a new team from East Grinstead, at the K2 Leisure Centre whilst moving its two lower divisions to Holy Trinity School down the road for more space.
The league is also planning a promotional drive to recruit more players and teams for its central venue divisions. Centralisation was largely responsible for the league's membership jump of 21% last season, particularly as it enabled it to take advantage of Joe Comper's excellent development work with juniors at Holy Trinity School.
The central venue format the league employs involves playing two matches over three tables and confers advantages such as keeping to a single night of the week, earlier finishes so youngsters can get to bed and oldsters can get to the bar in good time, a greater ratio of playing to waiting time (ie more active), fewer logistical barriers to get in the way of getting young players to and from the venue, higher quality facilities, setting the sport in greater community profile and facilitating a more social and lively atmosphere than the average TT club venue affords.
Change and table tennis can be very wary of each other so well done to the Crawley/Horsham League for achieving growth as a result of taking this bold but enlightened step.
County Association Reviews A Year of Success
The Sussex County Table Tennis Association held its AGM last Sunday and took some time to reflect on another fantastic year of progress.
Departing General Secretary Tony Catt climaxed his tenure by presenting the annual review document he had compiled - click here to download
Jim Skinner is set to take over the secretarial function and Tony will become Information Officer and with Chairman Steve Steel pledging to commit another year to his role all looks set fair for Sussex to make more advances next year.
Ensuring 2010-11 does not go down as the high watermark will not be easy though. On the performance side Sussex teams collectively posted the county's best ever showing and a number of its top young performers will be moving onwards and upwards through the age categories next season.
Sussex, having equipped its major leisure centres for the accommodation of large scale table tennis events, has already started to become an important focal point of tournament organisation for the south-east and indeed beyond. A series of high profile events is planned to take this progress to a new level but there is work to do to deliver on the promise of this escalation of opportunities. Steve Pound has created the vision and lets hope his ambition gets the reward it deserves because too often TT lacks it.
The SCTTA is also benefitting from its endorsement of and partnership with the Sussex Alliance which has improved junior talent development systems, in particular with the Sussex Elite Centre, and now benefits from a regularly updated website provided by the STTA. Sussex's clubs are becoming increasingly proactive, a fact noticibly evidenced by the number that have successfully applied for development grant funding in recent months with the support and advice SCTTA officers have been able to provide.
Additionally the SCTTA has strong and well managed financial resources and has continued to run a number of county tournaments for the benefit of its affiliates.
County Associations can be easy targets for the rank and file to knock with comments such as 'What do they do with our money?' Players in Sussex can rest easy in the knowledge that it has one of the most active county associations in the country working to advance the sport to the benefit of players of all levels within its boundaries.
