News

October 2008

 

NEWSLETTER – AUTUMN 2008

 

Welcome to the 2008/9 Table Tennis Season!

 

Top Sport – Why is schools’ table tennis riding high?

  • Table Tennis is one of eight sports selected for the roll-out by the new teams of Competition Managers working within the School Sport Partnership Network.
  • Table Tennis is one of a selected group of sports preparing resources for intra-school competition to be organised by School Sport Co-ordinators.
  • Table Tennis features in the prestigious UK School Games.
  • Table Tennis is a sport in the International School Sport Federation biennial calendar of World School Championships for Champion School Teams and Nationally Selected Teams.
  • With the support of Butterfly, an excellent range of developmental material is available to support schools’ table tennis.
    • The Butterfly TT Skills Circuit – ‘Lets Play’
    • The Butterfly ‘More Schools’ Project Toolkit
    • The Butterfly Skills Programme & Awards

All up-to-date and published within the last twelve months

  • The English Schools’ Table Tennis Association and the English Table Tennis Association enjoy excellent working relationships at National level.  Both have informative websites.
  • ESTTA has enjoyed over forty years of organising School Team and Individual Championships.

What more do you want?  Intra-school, inter-school, national and international events built on development supported by an excellent range of materials ….
…. welcome to the 2008/9 season!!

 

Maximising Opportunities – County Secretaries will have receivee the section of the listings from the new ESTTA database relating to their county.  This will include:

  • Schools in their county who have taken part in recent ESTTA Team and/or Individual Championships.
  • Schools who have taken part in County rounds of the above events.
  • Schools who have requested and received a copy of the Butterfly ‘More Schools’ Project Toolkit.
  • Schools in which ETTA Regional Development Officers/Regional Coaches have promoted table tennis.
  • Other schools known to be playing table tennis.

I am writing to all County Secretaries to ask them to invite all these schools to take part in their County events – these schools are waiting for the invitation.

County Secretaries have also received a list showing the contact details of the Senior Competition Manager (working with colleague Competition Managers) in their county who
will promote inter-school events at School Sport Partnership level - these colleagues are waiting to hear from you.

Better still, can County Secretaries offer to support the Senior Competition Managers by organising a course for SCMs and Competition Managers in their county to include tournament organisation, the Laws of Table Tennis and provide them with contacts for venues in the area.   Competition Managers have a general sports background but need to learn from you, the table tennis experts - please pick up the phone and contact them.

 

Competition Managers – a big welcome to the 225 Competition Managers working in county teams throughout England.  We look forward to working with you. 

Hopefully, you have adopted table tennis as one of your chosen sports this year.  Your first point of contact is the ESTTA County Secretary – see ‘Contacts’ on the ESTTA website.  You may also wish to contact me or Martin Ireland (ETTA UK School Games, Young People & Volunteer Programmes Manager) e-mail: martin.ireland-etta@blueyonder.co.uk or
telephone 07971 186405,

Attached is a recommended calendar of events showing how your competitions could be part of the network of events already in place.  This will be challenging to achieve this year as time is against us.  Of course, each partnership will determine the level of competition they can organise, dependant upon available facilities and manpower.  There is, after all, more than one way to organise an event – but a common approach is the eventual aim.

Also attached is a document indicating how intra/inter/county event could fit together.

 

The Future – it is our ambition to be part of a network which will give opportunities for more young players to participate in table tennis through:

  • Intra-school events – Team and Individual Leagues and Knockout Competitions leading to
  • Inter-school events – Team and Individual Leagues and Knockout Competitions leading to
  • County events for schools in the State and Independent sector leading to
  • ESTTA Team and Individual Championships

and provide opportunities and exit routes to local league clubs, ETTA cadet and junior competitions and those organised in the community.

 

Officers of both the English Schools’ Table Tennis Association and the English Table Tennis Association are asking for the support of the whole table tennis fraternity to make these targets a reality.

 

Handbook – this should be distributed by early November.
Contacts – all key contact names are on the ESTTA website as are dates for this season’s events.  Please note that the new General Secretary is:

Richard Hudson, 40 Warner Street, Barrow on Soar, Loughborough, LE12 8PB
Telephone:  01509 413185 (h).  E-mail:  richardhudson847@btinternet.com

Many of you will already know or have corresponded with Richard as the National School Team Championship Organiser.

 

The Season at a Glance 2008/9:

31st October 2008                Last date for payment by Counties of Affiliation Fees
8th December 2008              Final date for nomination of schools/colleges representing Counties in the Butterfly National School Team Championships
17th January 2009                Zone Finals of the Team Championships
18th January 2009                Zone Finals of the Team Championships
28th February 2009               Regional Finals of the Team Championships
1st March 2009                     Regional Finals of the Team Championships
17th March 2009                   Final date for nomination of players representing Counties in the Butterfly Individual Championships
28th March 2009                   National Team Finals (Hinckley Leisure Centre)
25th April 2009                     Butterfly Individual Championships (The Dome, Doncaster)

 

A full list including dates of school international events can be found on the ESTTA website.

 

Websites   

ESTTA – for County Secretaries contact details, events and results - www.estta.org.uk

ETTA – for information about the Butterfly Skills Award Programme, the Butterfly  Skills Cards, development in School Sport Partnerships  – www.etta.co.uk

Tees Sport - Table Tennis Specialists
Suppliers of Butterfly Tables and Table Tennis Equipment, also Butterfly Skills Programme Manuals, KS1/2 and  KS3/4 packs - www.teessport.com

 

John Arnold, President ESTTA, e-mail: jarnold@estta.wanadoo.co.uk. Tel. 01924 372597

 

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