Posts in category: Awards

On Friday February 9th, 2024: The Federation of Irish Sport today announced the list of recipients for the 2023 Volunteers in Sports Awards, celebrating the depth and breadth of volunteering in sporting communities nationwide. Supported by the National Network of 29 Local Sports Partnerships these dedicated volunteers will be celebrated at a national awards ceremony in Dublin on Thursday 29th February 2024.

We are pleased to announce that two of the recipients for the awards were Arnold Morgan and Eoin Kelly. Arnold was awarded for his work in Banbridge Table Tennis Club and Eoin was awarded for his work in Beech Hill Table Tennis Club. We would like to congratulate them both on this amazing achievement and all the hard work they have done with their respective clubs.

Press release:

The Federation of Irish Sport announced yesterday the launch of the 2023 Volunteers in Sports Awards, a highly anticipated event set to recognise the unsung heroes who breathe life into sports in every corner of the county. Supported by the National Network of 29 Local Sports Partnerships these dedicated volunteers are the backbone of sporting communities, and its time to celebrate their unwavering commitment.

The 2023 awards will culminate in a spectacular in-person awards ceremony, scheduled to take place on Thursday 29th February 2024.

Nominations close Monday 18th December 2023. The nominations received will be meticulously shortlisted and thoughtfully considered by the judging panel. The prestigious event will see 32 county awards presented and one exceptional individual will be crowned with the converted Outstanding Volunteer Award.

If you feel that someone has shown outstanding hard work towards table tennis in their club and/or in their sport, please nominate them.

Nomination for the awards are now open, and you can submit your entries at the dedicated awards website: www.volunteersinsport.ie.

If you do nominate someone please let us know by emailing [email protected]

#DedicatedToTheDedicated

Congratulations to TTI Chair Arnold Morgan who won School Coach of the Year at the recent Armagh Banbridge & Craigavon Junior Sports Awards held on Friday 13^th October at Craigavon Civic Centre.

The main achievements which resulted in Arnolds win were he coached:

• Both the Ballydown PS Boys and Girls U11 Teams – Both Ulster School Champions and Silver Medalists at the All Ireland Schools Championships.
• Banbridge Academy U15 Girls Team – Ulster Schools Champions and Silver Medalists at the All Ireland Schools Championships.
• Coached multiple medallists from various local schools at Ulster Primary and Secondary School Individual Championships

Well done to Arnold on a great achievement.

For the full list of winners, please visit https://getactiveabc.com/…/boroughs-most-inspirational…/

The Awards will be presented at the AGM on Saturday 10^th of June 2023 

Table Tennis Ireland invites nominations under its Awards Scheme for the 2022/2023 season. Nominations for all the Award categories must be received on the specified form by Monday 1^st of May 2022. Applications can be emailed to admin@tabletennisireland.ie or posted to Ajinkya Sawant, Table Tennis Ireland, Irish Sports HQ, Sport Ireland Campus, Blanchardstown, Dublin 15, D15 DY62.  

Please note that there will be two awards made within the Junior Player of the Year category. 

Please click HERE for the Nomination Form, please click  HERE for the Criteria for the Awards Scheme 

Should you have any queries on the Awards Scheme, please contact by email or by phone at +353 1 6251135. 

The Federation of Irish Sport hosts the Volunteers in Sport Awards as a unique celebration to honour and recognise individuals who are part of the wider volunteering community involved in sport. Nominations are now open at www.volunteersinsport.ie.

The 2022 awards will be celebrated in the Greater Dublin Area at the beginning of March 2023. Entries will close on the 8th of February 2023. Nominations received will be shortlisted and put forward for consideration by the Judging Panel. Winners are chosen on a county basis, with 32 award recipients and one overall Outstanding Volunteer Award.

Volunteers are the cornerstone of table tennis clubs and communities across Ireland. Unpaid, they give freely of their time, energy and are dedicated to the development of table tennis. Without them sports clubs would not exist.

Complete the entry form to celebrate the volunteer you admire most. There will be 32 county winners decided and an overall award for Outstanding Achievement. Each county winner will receive a commemorative prize. Nominate now: https://volunteersinsport.ie/make-a-nomination/

The Association’s Awards Committee of Tony Martin, Patricia Hunter, Tara Fusco and Kenneth Strong recently considered the nominations received for the 2021/2022 National Awards.  

The Award recipients were announced and presented by the President, Tony Martin at the Annual General Meeting on the 11^th of June 2022, in the Conference Room at the Irish Sports HQ. 

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 was Derek Weir, who took over running the Belfast & District League in 1987 and served for over 30 years before retiring in 2018. This was the largest league in Ulster which in its heyday had more than 12 divisions. One of the challenges which Derek faced at a difficult time in Belfast was to reverse the decline that had seen the League reduced to 3 divisions. By the end of his tenure Derek had seen the league rejuvenated to 5 strong divisions.  

Derek organized all the cup competitions associated with the league including singles competitions and an annual challenge match versus the Leinster League. As a player Derek was very successful playing several times for Ulster and Ireland. 

The Senior Male Player of the Year has been awarded to end of season Irish No. 1, Alexander Gillen who won the majority of senior open events of the season. 

Other Awards decided are: 

Junior Male Player of the Year:    James Skelton 

Junior Female Player of the Year:  Anjali Singh 

Para Award:                           John Dempsey 

Junior Coach of the Year:             Conor Mullally 

Club of the Year:                      Loop Table Tennis Club 

School of the Year: St. Ronan’s N.S

Certificate of Merit to Strathearn Grammar School, Belfast 

International Performance of the Year: Sophie Earley 

Special Award for Investigative Journalism 2022: Norman Nabney – for his work on articles about Karen Walker(Senior), Jim Langan and Ping Pong Diplomacy 

Eoin Kelly was also presented with his Volunteer of the Year Award 2020/21 which had not been presented due to the Covid pandemic. 

The end of Season Underage Irish No.1’s were also announced at the AGM and presented as follows: 

Irish No. 1 – Under 19 Boys 2021/22: James Skelton  

Irish No.1 – Under 15 Boys 2021/22: Vincent Ni  

Irish No. 1 – Under 13 Boys 2021/22: Peadar Sheridan  

Irish No. 1 – Under 19 Girls 2021/22:  Anjali Singh  

Irish No.1 – Under 15 Girls 2021/22: Anjali Singh  

Irish No. 1 – Under 13 Girls 2021/22: Lucy Lou O’Brien 

Congratulations to all recipients of these awards.