The Award recipients are normally announced at the Annual General Meeting, however, due to the Covid-19 pandemic, and the delayed National Championships, the Awards were deferred.
Principal among the Awards is the Joe Veselsky Award which is presented each season, in recognition of endeavour and achievement in administration, to a person over the age of 35 years, and who has served a minimum of 5 years. The recipient of this season’s award is Brian Finn, who has for many years been involved in running the Veterans area of table tennis.
He had been responsible for undertaking the onerous task of organizing the Home Nations Veterans Championships when they were staged in Ireland in 2013, and is also leading the project for the 2020 Championships, now postponed until 2021. Brian has been integral to the revival and regeneration of the veterans category in Ireland over the last 10 years and is a worthy recipient of the most prestigious award in Irish table tennis.
The Senior Male Player of the Year has been awarded to end of season Irish No. 1, Ryan Farrell, and the Senior Female Player of the Year to Sophie Earley, also ranked No.1 at the end of the season.
Other Awards decided are:
Junior Male Player of the Year: Art McLaughlin
Junior Female Player of the Year: Mia O’Rahilly Egan
Fair Play Award: Jonathan Mooney
Para Award: Eoin Kelly
Male Coach of the Year: Alan Hurley
Female Coach of the Year: Erin Thompson
Volunteer of the Year: Henrik Heckmann
Club of the Year: St. Anne’s, Dungannon
International Performance: Sophie Earley
The presentation of these awards will take place at a suitable time and venue later in the season.
Congratulations to all recipients of these awards.