News Archive - July to September 2011

Sussex Circuit Back With a Bang

This season, under the leadership of HTTC's Steve Pound, the Sussex County Table Tennis Association is re-introducing the Sussex Circuit events which will include five tournaments to be held at K2 Leisure Centre, Crawley.

For most of these tournaments there will be a 1 star competition in parallel so that players can choose which competition they want to enter.

For the first tournament to be held is on 15th October. It will be run as a Circuit tournament only. However it's hoped there'll be a really strong Band A event.

The competitions will be run as U-19 events so that last year’s juniors can still take part.

Some of the benefits of this year’s Circuit tournaments are expected to be:

  • U-19 so that last year’s juniors have tournaments to play
  • Within easy travelling distance so reduce travel costs
  • Tables permanently based at K2 so no transportation issues
  • Fantastic facilities and court sizes at K2
  • Brand new tables and equipment
  • Low cost tournaments with reduced pricing for low income families
  • Guaranteed lots of matches
  • Banding to ensure you play the right standard of players
  • Good opportunity to get match practice without pressure of ranking points
  • All profits go to Sussex County TTA to be re-invested in developing tournaments in Sussex

Click here to download the entry form for the 15th October event

 

The Prize is Right!

Sussex County Table Tennis Association has announced phase 1 of the “Sussex Series” at K2 Leisure Centre, a competition programme with over £8,000 prize money in its first four tournaments! And Horsham resident and Horsham Table Tennis Club member, Steve Pound, is the mastermind behind it.

Steve Pound (SCTTA) is pictured with Ray Hole (Managing Director of Ray Hole Architects)

SCTTA has agreed sponsorship deals with Heritage Oil, Griffin Security & Technology, Ray Hole Architects and Tees Sports for the 2011-2012 season that has enabled them to launch phase 1 of the “Sussex Series” tournaments. Ray Hole has witnessed firsthand the incredible talent of the players that trained with his son Joss Hole at the Sussex Elite centre and is keen to see these talented players progress.

The “Sussex Series” principles are to provide banded competition much like the adult Grand Prix bands with players playing a guaranteed 8 or 11 matches against similar standard players for significant prize money in 2 star competitions but with 4 star standard courts and conditions.

The venue will be K2, Crawley on 18 Butterfly tables which will be permanently based there to avoid table hire and transportation costs. Each competition will consist of 6 bands of 16 players with entry generally open to both boys & girls. In Junior competitions the top 3 bands all have £200 1st, £125 2nd , £75 3rd and £25 for 4th prize money. However, there will be some girls only competitions with prize money as high as £500 for the winner, £300 for 2nd and £100 for 3rd place! There will be prizes for each of the bands and the band ranges will be narrow so every player will have a chance to win significant prizes

Dates for the first four tournaments are Sunday 18th December 2011, Saturday 14th January 2012, Saturday 25th February 2012 and Sunday 26th February 2012 (Senior event – including Women’s only event with £600 1st , £300 2nd and £100 3rd place). Entry forms will be available shortly on the ETTA web site.

 

New Coaching Programme Forms Available

HTTC is now promoting its new coaching programmes. See below to view/download.

Please note that if you wish to book online that the online booking facility is expected to be available from the evening of Monday 5th September

Monday Junior Beginners/Improvers - click here to view/download

Monday Junior Intermediates - click here to view/download

Monday Junior Advanced and Adults - click here to view/download

Tuesday Junior Beginners/Improvers - click here to view/download

Tuesday Junior Intermediates - click here to view/download

Tuesday Junior Advanced and Adults - click here to view/download

For further information contact Ian Ford on 07764-146338 or Ian.ford@horsham.gov.uk

 

A New Coaching Era Dawns for HTTC

The new season will herald the introduction of a re-vamped coaching and leadership set-up within Horsham Table Tennis Club.

Martin Jezisek from East Grinstead will step into the Head Coach role. Amila Thilakaratne from Haywards Heath will also be taking more responsibility as a lead coach within the new structure. A third professional coach, Steve Denman, will become more active within the Club’s school and community feeder network. Marc Burman will also continue to run a club junior development squad on occasional Sundays.

In addition to its professional coaches volunteers such as Sally Weston, Steve Pound, Ian Ford and Alex Morrison will continue to provide invaluable assistance to the programmes.

Jezisek has done fantastic work in building a new club with a thriving and well networked junior section in East Grinstead which includes players of the calibre of Vinal Patel and it is hoped that he will bring his magic touch to Horsham. He will take over the Club’s Tuesday night run of coaching and the supervision of Club Nights on Fridays which will now also include a professional coaching service.

Thilikaratne is a highly ranked player in his native Sri Lanka and showed his class by winning the Men’s title at the Crawley/Horsham League championships recently. He has become coach qualified in England, experienced in coaching and sparring on programmes like the Sussex Elite Centre and a popular character. He will take over the Club’s Monday night run of coaching.

Horsham TTC has a good reputation for developing players and these new appointments are expected to take it to an even higher level in this regard.

Programme flyers will be available shortly.

 

Ping Arrives in the 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 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 venture on the table so keep an eye out if you are strolling through the Park.

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.

For further information contact Ian Ford on 01403 215634 or Ian.ford@horsham.gov.uk

 

Jarvis Camp Goes Down a Storm

The Nick Jarvis Summer Camp was run at Greenway last week and was a great success. All days on the camp were fully booked and the participants enjoyed and benefitted from the coaching maestro's knowledge and experience.

The appearance of ETTA Regional Coach, Craig Bryant on four of the five days was a surprise and most welcome addition. Martin Jezisek also provided some excellent coaching and multiball as part of the top quality coaching team. Chinese sparrer/multiballer and Sussex legend Wen Wei also made some cameo appearances in the week.

Between all the sessions of hard work there were 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's Tim Holtam by clicking here

 

TT A Hit At Sparks

Horsham TTC made a superb contribution to Sunday's Sparks in the Park festival in Horsham Park.

Equipped with six tables, a robot and some props the team of HTTC staff - Eve Alexander, Alex Morrison, Dave Richardson, Matt Castle, Barry Cheer, Kate Cheer, Graham Selwyn, Jonathan Grainger, Steve Hoad - ensured that our station was one of one of the most attractive and popular in the sports zone.

The tables and robot were in constant use and plenty of club information sheets were handed out to the public. Kate Cheer provided an exhibition against the robot to show people how good young players can get. Jonathan Grainger took some excellent photos, a selection of which are shown below.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

HTTC Players Make the Most of Their Invitation

The following Horsham players competed in the Sussex Top 8 Invitation Events on Sunday 3rd July.

Daniel Pound (Runner-up in Boys U15s & also played in Boys U18s)

Kate Cheer (Runner-Up in Girls U18s & Semi Finalist in Girls U15s)

Rory Scott (Semi finalist in the Men’s event)

Matt Van Yperen (Boys U15s)