Top Table at 2017 AGM
The Irish Table Tennis Association Limited AGM took place on Saturday 8 July 2017 in the Conference Centre at Sports Campus, Blanchardstown, Dublin. A range of topics were covered during a very busy day.
Chairman Robert Cowan welcomed everybody to the meeting and on his request Finance Director Na Ning deliver the Finance Report for the year 2016, The Report recorded a small profit for the period following the hard work by all involved during the year. The financial statement, directors’ report and auditor’s report were considered by the meeting and adopted by the members following a vote.
The Chair then presented the Chairman’s and Company Secretary’s Reports which recorded a wide range of topics including the Company’s Financial position and the success in the 2016/17 season of the High Performance teams. Reports were also circulated from the other Association Directors, Provincial Branches and Committees and subsequently approved.
Questions were raised from the members and addressed in the meeting. It was felt that the Coaching report could have benefitted from listing the successful L1 and other courses carried out during the year.
A long discussion took place on a major item of business introduced by the Chairman prompting feedback on the Board’s proposal to re-structure the format of the Association. This involved the introduction of a 2-tier management structure with the election of a Board and a number of Management Committees, each headed by a manager. These were intended to ease spread the workload of running the Company’s business. The proposal met with a very positive response from those present. The Chairman agreed to develop the detail of the proposal.with the Board with the intention of adopting it. Prior to the election of Directors, the outgoing Chairman notified the meeting that he would not be standing again as Chairman or Secretary.
Directors were elected as followed:
Chairman: Vacant until a suitable incumbent identified
Company Secretary: Robert Cowan
Finance Director: Peter Graham
Other Directors: Alan Strong, Conn Higgins, Paul Dolan
The Secretary, Rob Cowan, noted that he would fulfil the minimum statutory duties required of a company secretary while a replacement was found.
Appointment of New Life Members: Two new Honorary Life Members were introduced as Miss Anna Kelly and Mr. Tony Phillips, MBE. Both had given long and noteworthy service to the Associaion over a period in excess of 30 years. Unfortunately Mr. Phillips was unable to attend. .
Rob Cowan and Ken strong present Anna Kelly with Honorary Life Member Scroll
Appointments:
President: Mr. Ken Strong re-elected
Vice Presidents: Re Elected: Mrs. V. Barry, Miss A. Kelly, Mr. P. O’Brien, Mr. T. Martin, Mr. T. Phillips MBE, Mr. I. Shorten, Mr. J. Finnegan Newly elected: Mrs. P. Hunter
The Disciplinary Committee and Jury of Appeal were also elected. An appeal was made for new members of both the above Committees.
ITTA/TTI Annual Awards 2016/17
AWARD Name
Female Coach of the Year: Jennifer Thompson
Male Coach of the Year: Michael Mc Goldrick
Billy Marshall Junior Award: Mia O’Rahilly Egan
Para Award of the Year: Colin Judge
Stiga Volunteer of the Year: Sharon Brien Gibbons
Vivienne Barry Fair Play Award: James Kelly
Press Officer of the Year: Alan O’Reilly
Best Senior Female Player of the Year: Katie McGlone
Best Senior Male Player of the Year: Gavin Maguire
Best International Performance of the Year: Owen Cathcart
Joe Veselsky Award for Service to Sport: Derek Hanley
Various directors spoke about the recipient of each award and in particular the President, Ken Strong, about Mr. Derek Hanley who was retiring from the sport after a long and heavily loaded period as the Association’s Children’s Officer.
Other photographs are displayed below.
Colin Judge receives Para award of the year
Con O’Ceadaigh receiving Special Volunteer award
Affiliations 2018: Mr. Cowan presented a consultation paper on possible changes to the affiliation structure for the year commencing 1 January 2018. These involved adding further categories to the system and amalgamating others. In accordance with the ITTA ltd Constitution, he requested an increase in the adult affiliation fee from 35 euro to 40 euro per person. Voting took place on this proposal which was defeated and accordingly the adult affiliation fee will remain at 35 euro for the year 2018. The Chairman advised that the Board would review the other changes proposed for the affiliation structure and advise the members. He thanked them for their valuable feedback
On the request of the President those present stood for one minute’s silence in memory of Mrs. Pauline McGovern and Mr. Kiron Choudhury, two members of the Irish Table Tennis Family who had passed away since the last Annual General Meeting.