Posts in category: Awards

The 2013 ITTA Annual General Meeting was held on Saturday 8^th June 2013 at the new Irish Sport HQ, Blanchardstown, Dublin.  Despite the AGM falling on one of the hottest days of the year to date, a good attendance of almost 40 members heard reports of the 2012/13 season’s activities and were updated about current initiatives within the Association.

Key Highlights/Initiatives:

Finance:affiliation fees unchanged for next season, but other changes still under consideration.  2012 saw an increase in the number of affiliated members. This was mainly due to the continuing work in both compliance at events and the ITTA Participation Programmes.

Coaching:  Coaching Director, Arthur Brett advised of the new ITTA Introductory Course which has been approved by Coaching Ireland for a pilot – and thanked Owen Kelly for all his work.  Four Level One Courses were held during the year and a Level Two Course is to be held later this year.  Marcus McDonnell successfully completed the Tutor’s Course.  It is hoped to extend the Academy system during the 2013/4 season..  Two Coach workshops were planned for the coming season.

Marketing:  Marketing Director, Jamie McConkey enlightened the gathering on social media terminology, and how ITTA were performing via Klout scoring which indicates our “influence” levels.  His Report indicated significant growth in our influence in the social media area in the past 12 months. He addressed the membership on the rationale behind the proposed new brand name and logo for Table Tennis Ireland, which aimed to reflect the development of the Association over the past number of years to a vibrant, dynamic organization working in a dynamic, exciting sport. The membership were assured that the ITTA ‘4 province’ crest will remain in formal use as the crest of the Association and the new logo is intended for marketing and branding purposes. Further consultation will issue on this important item.

Strategic Development Plan 2013-2016:The Plan, which was prepared by a team led by Richard Butler,  has been approved by the Irish Sports Council, subject to a few amendments. The Board will continue to review progress on its implementation on a regular basis.

Junior Challenger Series:This series was again highly successful and will continue in the 2013/14 season. A Senior Series has also been launched and the Stiga Shamrock Senior Series will be focused on offering more competition opportunities for our senior players, particularly those at participation level.

Tournament Referees Course:  Five new Tournament Referees were presented with their Certificates: Vivienne Barry, Richard Butler, Jamie McConkey, Stuart McConkey, and Con O’Ceadaigh. 

Umpires: National Umpires course and examination to be held shortly, and it is hoped that perhaps 6 County Umpires will be National Umpires at the start of next season.

Events Committee:  Ken Strong read this report in Coordinator/Chair’s, Tony Martin’s absence, and referred to the need to get more people involved and trained for the top table and at tournaments and for players and coaches to show more respect for the Top Table personnel.   The main recommendation was to appoint a Coordinator/Chair for the Committee, as Tony would have less availability in the future.

Women in Sport:  Rhona Daly, ITTA WIS Coordinator, advised of the active increased programme in place involving 54 projects over the past 12 months.  She highlighted some examples of best practice – where the Association and our Participation Coaches have been successful in converting short term funded projects into long term, sustainable table tennis clubs. The considerable throughput of players competing in ITTA events from these projects was noted, with a particularly successful National Junior League being an excellent example of this.

Performance: Acting Performance Manager Richard Butler spoke of limited resources to challenge in performance sense – but despite this highlight performances of the year were:

–              Irish squads competed in 18 external events

–              6 Nations Seniors: Overall Team Gold Medal winners for first time ever.  Gold Medal for               Women’s Team of Na Liu and Ashley Givan and Singles Gold Medal for Na Liu.   Men’s          Team won Silver medal;  Bronze Medals in Singles Event for Paul McCreery and Gav             Maguire.

–              Primary Schools International:  Gold in Girls Team, Boys & Girls Singles plus Silvers           in Boys Team & Girls Singles. Kate Whelan retained her Singles title: Owen Cathcart  won title for first time.

–              Women’s British League:  Promoted to Division One

–              UK Grand Prix: Paul McCreery again won Under 21 category; in 3rd place in Seniors with one event still to play

–              6 Nations Junior/Cadet Championships: Silver in Cadet Girls Team(Rebecca Finn & Katie McGlone); Bronzes in Cadet and Junior Singles for Katie McGlone & Hannah Lynch- Dawson;  Bronzes in Junior Girls & Cadet Boys

–              Katie McGlone: Considerable success in ITTF Hopes World/European events; Bronzes in Swedish Open & Slovakia Junior Open

Irish Senior Ranking Schemes:  Rob Cowan, Committee Chair, presented the Ranking Committee Recommendations for amendments to be made to the Senior Ranking Scheme for the next season following the analysis of feedback from members.  This item produced the longest discussion of the day, with a strong debate focused on the merits or otherwise of awarding participation points. While several competing views were presented, there was general consensus that there should be retention of participation points, but at a reduced level than is currently the case. Rob agreed to work with the Ranking Committee to incorporate the views of the meeting in to a revised ranking scheme proposal.

Sponsorships:  Butterfly have extended their  four year sponsorship period as kit suppliers to our elite international teams.Stiga remain a committed partner across a number of participation events and continue to assist greatly in the development of table tennis at grassroots level.

Child Protection:  Derek Hanley, in his report as National Children’s Officer, advised that Garda Vetting applications continue with 48 received in past year. This very necessary process now takes an average of over 16 weeks per application to be processed. He referred to the ongoing Policy Development and Review and to the  National Vetting Bureau (Children and Vulnerable Persons) Act 2012 which had been enacted and was awaiting a commencement date.  The introduction of the Children First Bill into law – would  have implications on how vetting and safeguarding is carried out within ITTA.  Derek undertook to provide advice on this during the next year

Para Table Tennis:  The integration of Para TT under the umbrella of ITTA is continuing to make good progress. A Memorandum of Understanding has been signed between IWA and ITTA with the support of Paralympics Ireland and this will form the basis of the transfer of governance over the coming years, with final transfer of all governance to be complete by Rio 2016 Olympics. ITTA has also applied for membership of PI.

Finally, the ITTA is delighted to confirm the appointment of an Associate Director to the Board  – Rena Rooney will advise on and represent the Para area within Irish Table Tennis.

Tommy Caffrey Trophy: This award of “Player of the Tournament” at the Senior/Under 21/Veterans Interpros was awarded to Keith Knox for his performances at the 2013 event at the David Lloyd Leisure Complex outside Belfast.

Colum Slevin Award:  This award was presented to  Paddy Vaughan  as the “Player of the Tournament” at the 2013 Junior/Cadet/Under 12 Interpros in Castlebar.

Elections:

The following were elected:

President:                                     Mr Joseph Hickey

Finance Director:                       Vacant     

Performance Director:              Mr John McGlone     

International Director:            Mr Kenneth Strong

Participation Director:              Vacant

Human Resources Director:   Vacant

(Chair Mrs Pat Hunter, Coaching Director Mr Arthur Brett, and Marketing Director Mr Jamie McConkey were elected at 2012 AGM for a two-year period)

Vice Presidents:  Mr Tony Phillips MBE, Mr Tony Martin, Mr Pat O’Brien , Mr Ivan Shorten

Disciplinary Committee: Miss Anna Kelly,  Messrs  Con Higgins,  Ted Mahaffy and Alan Strong

Jury of Appeal:  Miss Kelly O’Hara, Messrs Noel Hitchcock, Paul Talini & Jimmy Wilson

ITTA Awards:

The following awards for 2012/13 were presented:

Ken Strong Male Coach of the Year:                    JIMMY HAYES

Anna Kelly Female Coach of the Year:                ANNE LUDLOW

Rhanbuoy Trophy Senior Male Player:               PAUL McCREERY

Eleanor McKee Trophy Senior Female Player:  TERESA DEVANEY

Billy Marshall Junior Award:                               KATIE McGLONE

Press Officer of the Year:                                     BRIAN FINN

Stiga Volunteer of the Year:                                 TERRI McKEON

Joe Veselsky Merit Award:                                   IVAN SHORTEN

ITTA Special Award:                                              NA LIU

The Annual ITTA Awards were presented by ITTA President Joe Hickey to their recipients at the ITTA AGM held in the wonderful new Sport HQ, Dublin  on Saturday 8th June 2013.

President of the ITTA, Joe Hickeypaid tribute to all award recipients –

“The pursuit and achievement of excellence by players, officials and volunteers requires ability, hard work and determination. The ITTA is delighted to recognise and honour the success of the recipients who have all worked for many years to arrive at the high standards required to be chosen for an award. I have no doubt that their success will be widely applauded and will encourage others to continue with their personal goals“

Joe Veselsky Award: Ivan Shorten

The Joe Veselsky Award is presented in recognition of endeavour and achievement in administration; it is only open to members of the ITTA over the age of 35 who have served a minimum of 5 years in administrative positions within table tennis. It is seen to many as a sort of Lifetime Achievement Award, recognition of the recipient’s work for Table Tennis over a long number of years.

This year the Awards Panel decided to award the “Joe Veselsky” to Ivan Shorten. Ivan has been a stalwart of his club for many years, having first become Chairman in 1982 and is still in the Chair. He was instrumental in raising £15,000 to have an extension built and opened in 1988. Numbers continue to rise in the club and many from there have represented Ireland and Munster. Club now has a training facility with 12 tables. He has visited local schools in an attempt to encourage young people into the club;  the club was twinned with a French Club, Goudelin in Brittany and a number of exchange visits were arranged. Ivan continues to coach in local schools and has coached teams from Munster when they played in the World Schools Championships. He has coached Junior Interpros Teams as well as representing his province’s Veterans’ Team in Senior Interpros. He also is involved in coaching Special Olympic players. The Panel recognised Ivan’s ability as an all rounder – good administrator, player, coach and fundraiser!!

Stiga Volunteer of the Year Shield:  Terri McKeon

The STIGA Ireland Volunteer of the Year Shield is given to someone who gives up their time and skills to table tennis over the year. This year the recipient of the award was Terri McKeon. Terri has given many years’ service,  more than 25 years , as a Committee member and League Secretary of the Leinster League. She has arranged Inter League matches, etc. and deals with all the day to day and general duties of the Secretary of a large league. In addition, she is a qualified National Umpire who helps at tournaments when she is available.

Billy Marshall Award: Katie McGlone

The Billy Marshall Award is awarded to the Best Junior/Cadet/Under 12 player of the season taking into account not only the player’s results in tournaments but also his or her playing programme. This year the award went to Katie McGlone from Dublin. Ranked No. 1 in both Cadet & Junior Rankings at end of season, Katie won 4 Cadet and 1 Junior Irish Ranking Tournament this season as well as achieving several exceptional international results, including;

·         ITTF World Junior Circuit Swedish Open February 2012

Hopes Singles Bronze medal

·         ITTF Hopes Week Falkenberg June 2012( World Event for Under 12)

Finished 9th place

·         Liverpool Senior Grand Prix – August 2012

Silver medal in Band 3 Women’s Singles

·         Sussex 4* Junior Event – Sept 2012

Gold medal in U13 event

Bronze medal in Cadets event

·         Six Nations March 2013

Bronze medal in Cadet singles

Silver medal in Cadet Team event

·         Slovakia Open March 2013

Bronze medal in Cadet Doubles event

Quarter Finalist in Cadet Singles event

Para Table Tennis Award: Ronan  Rooney

This year was the inaugural presentation of the Para TT Award. The Panel made the award to Ronan Rooney who hasbeen a dedicated Volunteer and player in Para/wheelchair Table Tennis for many years. Ronan represented Ireland in London 2012 Paralympics and many other international events, winning a Silver medal in Irish Open in doubles with his partner, Philip Quinlan. He also competed in the Italian Open and Slovenia Open. He achieved selection for the Paralympics 2012 which he clinched through his results at the Argentine Open. He won a Bronze in the Singles and a Silver in the Team Event. Ronan also plays a major role in developing the sport in Ireland and is a deserving winner of this historic award.

Eleanor McKee Trophy: Teresa Devaney

Female Player of the Year was Teresa Devanney. A consistent winner of Veterans tournaments in Ireland and England, Teresa won Team Gold medal in Over 50s Singles in the 6 Nations Veterans as well as Doubles Gold medal in Over 50s Doubles; She also won the Over 60s Singles Gold. Her successes include  winning Individuals and Doubles in Veterans National Championships in Bristol +many other UK titles. The icing on the cake was her phenomenal performance in the recent European Veterans Championships in Bremen , Teresa won a Bronze medal in Over 60s Singles – A MAGNIFICENT ACHIEVEMENT!!  A first medal won by an Irish Woman at European level.

SPECIAL AWARD: Na Liu

This year we had a player who was a treble Gold medallist at the 6 Nations Seniors: i.e. Gold in Singles, Gold in Women’s Team and Gold in overall Tem Event. She won any tournaments she played in in Ireland. Most importantly, she also played in the 2012 Olympics in London – ITTA’s first player ever to play in the Olympics To give you some idea of how difficult it was for her to qualify for London 2012 some of her results in the pre-selection period were:

–          Reached last 64 in China Open losing to the winner

–          In final World Olympic Qualification Event in Doha, she faced players of much higher ranking – she was at WR 244 – and she took to the task with style. She defeated the World No. 87 from France and then World No. 117 from Poland, lost finally to top Spanish player, Sara Ramirez.

The complete list of the recipients of the ITTA Awards 2013 is:

Joe Veselsky Award: Ivan Shorten

Anna Kelly Female Coach of the Year Award: Anne Ludlow

Ken Strong Male Coach of the Year Award: Jimmy Hayes

Press Officer of the Year: Brian Finn

STIGA Ireland Volunteer of the Year Shield: Terri McKeon

Billy Marshall Award (Best Junior/Cadet Player of the Season): Katie McGlone

Eleanor McKee Trophy (Female Player of the Year): Teresa Devanney

Rhanbouy Trophy (Male Player of the Year): Paul McCreery

Special Award: Na Liu

Para TT Award: Ronan Rooney

ITTA International Director, Ken Strong, introduced the presentations at the ITTA’s 75^th Anniversary Dinner on Saturday 3^rd November 2012.

Mr Strong advised those present that the Association wished to honour a number of persons, both current and former international players as well as two volunteers involved in running tournaments.

He advised that Irish Senior International players were currently presented with an ITTA Crest at the end of each season in which they had represented Irish Senior Teams in an international event. In addition to the current system he explained that the Board had recently introduced the award of specially designed ITTA crests to those international players who had achieved certain milestones in their careers as international players.

 The Association had 1 senior player present at the dinner who had represented Ireland on more than 100 occasions in the European & World Championships, European League and 6 Nations events. Mr Strong then referred to the legendary Tommy Caffrey who had made 151 appearances for Irish Seniors and invited Mr Joe Veselsky, ITTA Life President to make a presentation to Tommy Caffrey.  Mr Veselsky spoke about his time as Tommy’s coach and made a presentation to him.

Mr Strong then announced that the Association awards would make presentations to those players present who had made 50 or more appearances for Irish teams. These were made to the following by ITTA President, Mr Joe Hickey and ITTA Chairman, Mrs Pat Hunter:

Mrs Karen Senior(pictured above receiving her award)

Mrs Jennifer Thompson

Mrs Tara Fusco

Mr Andrew Dennison

Mr John Murphy

Mr Strong then introduced 2 final presentations and advised that the Association was indebted to two persons who over a long period of years had organised and refereed ranking tournaments. He referred to Mr Tony Martin and Mr Tony Phillips whom the Association had designated as its first two National Referees in recognition of their experience and knowledge in the area of tournament organisation and management.

ITTA Deputy Life President, Mr Alex Thackaberry spoke in glowing terms about Mr Martin and presented him with a National Referees Certificate. Mr Strong then spoke of his years of experience in being involved with Mr Tony Phillips and presented him with a National Referee’s Certificate.

The ITTA is entering into Season 12/13 with lots to be optimistic about as the organisation celebrates its 75^th Anniversary. In this update, the Association looks forward to some exciting events ahead and back over some important events that took place during the Summer break:

ITTA AGM

The 2012 ITTA Annual General Meeting was held on Saturday 9^th June 2012 at Sport HQ,  Dublin. The good attendances of some 30 members heard reports of the 2011/12 season’s activities and were updated about current initiatives within the Association.

The performance of the Irish Women’s Team in winning Gold Medals at the 6 Nations Senior Championships was highlighted as were the Irish Primary Schools teams in winning Golds in the team events at the 6 Nations Primary Schools Championships.

The meeting sent its best wishes for a speedy recovery to long-time member Mrs Kitty Thackaberry who is recovering at home and making good progress following a recent illness.

Particular thanks were expressed tothe Irish Sports Council for their continuing support of the ITTA across all of our Programmes.

The following Directors were elected:

Chair:   Mrs Pat Hunter –  It was noted that Mrs.Hunter was the first female Chair of the ITTA Board.

Finance Director:  No nominations and left to incoming Board to appoint.

High Performance Director:  No nominations, left to incoming Board to appoint.

Mr. Richard Butler has since taken up the position of Acting High Performance Manager.

Coaching Director:  Mr Arthur Brett

Marketing Director:   Mr Jamie McConkey

Human Resources Director:  No nominations and left to incoming Board to appoint.

ITTA Website

The ITTA website has undergone some changes over the course of the Summer, including significantly improved social media integration and some changes to the design of provincial pages – check out www.ttulster.co.uk. We continue to work on the site with some other changes coming on stream to the multimedia section of the site over the next month. The site had 70,000 visits over the past 12 months and continues to be a key communication tool of the Association

ITTA Senior Ranking Scheme 2012/3

Following an online survey and comments received during last season, the Senior Ranking Scheme has been revised and is now published.

ITTA Junior Ranking System 2012/3

The Junior System has also been reviewed and following one amendment has recently been published.

ITTA Calendar

ITTA Calendar for 2012/13 has been published at http://www.irishtabletennis.com/itta/events/calendar with a continued focus on providing increased participation opportunities. The Calendar will be updated further in September when the Association announces full details of the Junior Challenger Series and its pilot Senior Challenger Series event which is aimed at social players over the age of 18.

ITTA Awards:

The ITTA Awards for 2011/12 were presented  by the ITTA President, Mr. J. Hickey as follows:

●      Rhanbuoy Trophy for Senior Male Player:                                                  Paul McCreery

●      McKee Trophy for Senior Female Player of the Year:             Amanda Mogey

●      Billy Marshall Junior Award:                                                            Edel O’Reilly

●      Ken Strong Male Coach of the Year:                                              Richard Butler

●      Press Officer of the Year:                                                                    Jamie McConkey

●      Stiga Volunteer of the Year:                                                              Arnold Morgan

●      Joe Veselsky Merit Award:                                                                 Liam O’Ceallaigh

Season 12/13

We are eagerly anticipating the season ahead, with the Senior Classification just completed and the Junior Classification about to take place. The Association is delighted to be hosting the Primary Schools International as reigning champions in both the Boys and Girls Team events as well as in the Girls Individual event – this event takes place in Dublin in April 2013. Already Irish players have been on the mark in international events, with Paul McCreery claiming a sensational victory in both the Open and Under 21 Men’s Singles events at the Tees Sport Liverpool Grand Prix and Ashley Givan finishing Runner-up in the Women’s Singles at the same tournament.

75^th Anniversary

The Association will shortly be announcing a special evening occasion  on Saturday 3^rd November 2012 to celebrate its 75^th Anniversary. This promises to be an event not to be missed by the Irish table tennis fraternity.

Children’s Issues:

The ITTA Children’s Officer is seeking to ensure that all club Children’s Officers are Garda and PSNI cleared for working with children as well as having undertaken appropriate courses in dealing with children.  Information is awaited from the Branches on the names of their clubs and officers.   All coaches working within the ITTA coaching scheme have been cleared.

Umpires & Referees Association:

At the U & R Association’s AGM, Mrs Vivienne Barry was appointed Chairman and Mr Ian Erskine as Secretary. The Association plans to host a Tournament Referees’ and Organisers’ Course in Sports HQ., Dublin on 10/11 November 2012. Retraining and upskilling of umpires  is also being pursued. Tony Martin and Tony Phillips have been appointed as Irish National Referees in recognition of their long experience and expertise in running tournaments. It is proposed to amalagamate the U & R Associaiation’s website with the ITTA website.

Veterans Society:

Brian Finn, as Chairman, and Kariem Sabir, as Treasurer, will again lead the Veterans Society during the season. Currently the Irish Veterans teams are looking forward to the 6 Nations Veterans Championships in Wales in September and hope to repeat their successes they recorded in the 2011 Championships. The 6 Nations Championships will be staged in Ireland in 2014.

Events Committee:

Our Events Committee, led by Con O’Ceadaigh and Tony Martin, has organised and managed 7 ranking tournaments during last season. The Committee has emphasised the need for additional personnel to run the top table at ranking events.

Schools Events:

A Committee, chaired by Mr Tony Phillips, and consisting of representatives of all Branches has reviewed the current system of organising schools event. A report has been prepared with recommendations for the future and is currently being considered by the ITTA Board and others. 

Para Table Tennis: Transfer of Governance:

The International Paralympic Committee has recently transferred its governance responsibility to the International Table Tennis Federation.  The ITTA has been in discussion with the Irish Wheelchair Association and others as to the way forward in Ireland.

ITTA Board                                                                                                                       September 2012

The annual ITTA Awards were presented by ITTA President Joe Hickey to their recipients at the ITTA AGM held in Sport HQ, Dublin last Saturday,  the 9^th of June 2012.

President of the ITTA, Joe Hickey paid tribute to all award recipients –

“The pursuit and achievement of excellence by players, officials and volunteers requires ability, hard work and determination. The ITTA are delighted to recognise and honour the success of the recipients who have all worked for many years to arrive at the high standards required to be chosen for an award. I have no doubt that their success will be widely applauded and will encourage others to continue with their personal goals“

Liam O’Ceallaigh(pictured)

The Joe Veselsky Award is awarded in recognition of endeavour and achievement in administration; it is only open to members of the ITTA over the age of 35 who have served a minimum of 5 years in administrative positions within table tennis. It is seen to many as a sort of Lifetime Achievement Award, recognition of the recipient’s work for Table Tennis over a long number of years.

This year the Awards Panel decided to award the “Joe Veselsky” to Liam O’Ceallaigh. Liam is a member of the original Raven Club which he has recently reactivated and he has run both the Raven Club and Northway TT Club for approximately 20 years. He has played in and been involved with C.Y.C Leagues for 20 years in Dublin. As a competitor, Liam played in the Junior Interpros in the 1969/70 season and 42 years on he led the Leinster Junior Interpros Squad that claimed the Victor Barna shield this season.  He has organised table tennis in St. Mary’s School in Glasnevin in the Secondary School League in Leinster and Sacred Heart BNS in the Primary Schools League. He has been involved in organising the local Community Games Table Tennis teams for over 25 years winning 2 national titles in the process.

Liam is a qualified umpire and has umpired at the World Special Olympics when they were held in Dublin in 2003. He has served the Leinster Branch for 15/20 years, being a member of the Branch’s Executive Committee and is currently joint Hon. Secretary. All in all Liam has been a great ambassador and volunteer for Table Tennis in Ireland for many years, he is always there to help with setting up and down of halls at competitions or organising exhibitions and training for children. Liam was heavily involved in the early years of the ITTA Women in Sport Programme, bringing his knowledge of the game to bear on the many schools and clubs he became involved with.

Arnold Morgan

The STIGA Ireland Volunteer of the Year Shield is given to someone who gives up their time and skills to table tennis over the year. This year the recipient of the award was Arnold Morgan. Arnold is currently Honorary Secretary of Ulster Branch Executive Committee, this role in itself demands hours and hours of time dealing with correspondence from around the Branch and Sport NI requirements. He coaches regularly in Primary, Secondary Schools and Clubs around Banbridge and recently qualified as an ITTA Level 2 coach. He has worked tirelessly to get the school principals to agree to add table tennis to their “curriculum”. The new club he set up recently in Banbridge has brought many new children into our sport with a large number of children in attendance. Recently he has become proactive in introducing some special needs children into Table Tennis.

Arnold was appointed Team Manager for the Sainsbury’s 2012 School Games held in London in May and attended several meetings “across the water” leading up to this prestigious event. He is the Ulster Branch Representative and main organiser of the Table Tennis event for the World Police and Fire Games being held in Belfast in 2013. This event is the third biggest sporting event in the world after the Olympics and Football World Cup. Last August he was the main organiser of the table tennis event at the UK Transplant Games which was held in Belfast. He has been involved in an Ulster Branch working group on Affiliations. As a County Umpire he is regularly seen in the umpire’s chair at many events around Ireland. He is always on hand to move tables and help in whatever way is required.

Edel O’Reilly

The Billy Marshall Award is awarded to the Best Junior/Cadet/Under Age player of the season. This year the award went to Edel O’Reilly from Ballinacollig in Cork. Edel had a truly successful season at both Junior and Senior Levels. She is the current Irish Junior Girls Number 1 and won her first National Titles this season in the Junior Girls and the Under 21’s Women’s Events. This season she won the Munster Open Junior Girls event. Edel was selected on the Irish Senior Women’s Team which travelled to the World Team Championships in Dortmund this year. She performed fantastically well in winning 60% of her matches which helped the team finish 59^th from 90 teams. Following her success at the World Team Championships she went in to the World Senior Rankings for the 1^st time at No.781, an incredible start to her international senior career. Looking ahead Edel’s performances have meant she is a member of the squad chosen to represent Ireland at the European Junior Championships in Austria in July. 

The complete list of the recipients of the ITTA Awards 2012 is:

Anna Kelly Female Coach of the Year Award: Louise Long

Ken Strong Male Coach of the Year Award: Richard Butler

Press Officer of the Year: Jamie McConkey

STIGA Ireland Volunteer of the Year Shield: Arnold Morgan

Billy Marshall Award (Best Junior/Cadet Player of the Season): Edel O’Reilly

Eleanor McKee Trophy (Female Player of the Year): Amanda Mogey

Rhanbouy Trophy (Male Player of the Year): Paul McCreery

Joe Veselsky Award: Liam O’Ceallaigh 

At the recent ITTA Senior Classification event, Association President Joseph Hickey was on hand to make presentations to two of our Volunteers for their the contributions to Irish Table Tennis. These Awards were announced at the ITTA AGM as part of the Association’s Annual Presentations, but the two recipients could not make it due to other commitments – both were delighted to have their awards presented by the President before a large crowd of table tennis players, coaches and volunteers.

First to receive his award was Tommy Keenan who received the Joe Veselsky Award. In presenting the award, Mr.Hickey highlighted the very worthy recipient’s 15 years service as Leinster Branch Secretary, his work as a very active Umpire and Tournament Referee and also as compiler of the Junior rankings for many years.

The President also said that “ the Joe Veselsky award, named after a former President, is the highest award in Irish table tennis and Tommy Keenan is a worthy addition to the recipients who have gone before him.” He went on to say, that “table tennis, like many other sports is highly dependent on the work of people like Mr Keenan and he was delighted to present the award on behalf of the Association, in recognition of his outstanding contribution over many years”. 

Second to receive an award was Con O’Ceadaigh (pictured), who was presented with the Volunteer of the Year Award. Con came in to Irish table tennis initially through the Special Olympics World Games in 2003. Since then he has been an active Umpire, but, in more recent times, he has made a valuable contribution as Tournament Referee at a number of major National and Provincial events. The President commented that “acting as Tournament Referee is a very demanding task and Mr. O’ Ceadaigh has been a fantastic addition to the ITTA Events Committee team”.

Having received their awards, both Tommy and Con returned to their work at the top table of the Senior Classification. 

Truly dedicated volunteers!

The 2011 ITTA Annual General Meeting was held on Saturday 4^th June 2011 at Sport HQ, Park West, Dublin. Good attendances of 41 members heard reports of the 2010/11 season’s activities and were updated about current initiatives within the Association.

Key Highlights/Initiatives:

Finance: affiliations for 2012 to remain at same level as in 2011; consideration being given to the introduction of a club affiliation system. Information will be circulated on the proposal shortly.

Schools: All Ireland Primary and Secondary Schools Team Championships were held in Banbridge and Castlebar respectively. Changes to the current format of these events are being considered and will be available in the near future.

Sponsorships: Butterfly and Stiga with a number of small event associated sponsorships, including the Challenger series.

Junior Challenger Series: this series was again highly successful and will continue in the 2011/12 season. A Senior Series will be introduced; 8 Junior Challenger and 3 Senior Challenger events targeted in 2011/12

Umpires:  Umpires Association trained 16 new County Umpires during the season; umpires’ refresher courses planned; revised and updated Sanctions Scheme to be issued.

Need for Volunteers:  there is a need for additional volunteers in all areas of ITTA activity and offers of assistance welcomed, especially for setting up and taking down of venues before events; those interested in lending a hand should contact ITTA Manager, Darren Coombes at [email protected] .

Marketing: significant increase in media and print coverage during season;  

Women in Sport: active increased programme in place involving 27 projects; programme has been rolled out in conjunction with other participation programmes.

Performance:  introduction of High Performance Committee to receive and consider nominations for appointment of HP positions, the Selectors and the HP Programme; Irish International  teams competed in 19 events during the season; Irish Senior Men’s and Women’s Teams competed the World Senior Individuals Championships in the Netherlands; Irish Women’s Senior Team finished in 29^th place in European Senior Championships in the Czech Republic.

Good junior results in Senior Schools Internationals and 6 Nations Junior/Cadet Championships.

Coach Education: courses at all levels to be organized in the 2011/12 season commencing with a Level 2 course in September; Marcus McDonnell qualified as an ITTA Tutor.

Child Protection: all working with children in the sport must receive Garda clearance in R.O.I. and from Access NI in Ulster; national children’s committee, involving Branch Child Protection officers to be set up; ITTA policies and practices on children to be reviewed.

Tommy Caffrey Trophy: this award of “Player of the Tournament” at the Senior/Under 21/Veterans Interpros was awarded to Pawel Sulkowski for his performances at the 2011 event

Colum Slevin Award:  this new award was presented to Valentina Puotkalyte as the “Player of the Tournament” at the 2011 Junior/Cadet/Under 12 Interpros.

Calendar of Events 2011/12: Version 1 of the ITTA Calendar on ITTA website.

Review of Junior & Senior Ranking Schemes:  Review of both schemes being undertaken and final drafts to be issued to Branches shortly for comment; thank you to those who have inputted to the reviews

  Elections:

The following were elected:

v  President:                         Mr. J. Hickey

v  Chairman: 

The meeting noted that the Chairman ( J. HIckey) had indicated several months earlier that he would not be seeking re-election and that the intended nominee as his successor had decided not to accept the post, due to a change in circumstances. Mr. Hickey recommended that the AGM leave it to the Board to appoint a new Chairman and this was agreed. At a Board meeting held immediately after the AGM, it was agreed that Mr. Hickey would continue as Chairman, until a successor was appointed, probably at the August meeting.

v  Finance Director:                 Mrs. P. Hunter

v  Technical Director:              Mr. J. O’Donoghue

v  Coaching Director:               Mr. M. McDonnell

v  International Director:          Mr. K. Strong

v  Marketing Director:             Vacant

v  Participation Director:                Mr. B. Haughton

v  Human Resources Director:      Vacant

v  Deputy Life President:          Mr. A. Thackaberry

v  Vice Presidents:  Mr. T. Phillips MBE, Mr. T. Martin, Mr. P. O’Brien

v  Disciplinary Committee:  Mrs.L. Cooke, Dr. W.S. Chan, Messrs. J. Campbell, P. Conneely, C. Higgins & T. Mahaffy

v  Jury of Appeal:  Miss K. O’Hara, Messrs. N. Hitchcock, P. Talini & J. Wilson

ITTA Awards:

The following awards for 2010/11 were presented:

v  Ken Strong Male Coach of the Year:       RICHARD BUTLER

v  Rhanbuoy Trophy Senior Male Player:      JOHN MURPHY

v  Eleanor McKee Trophy Senior Female Player: AMANDA MOGEY

v  Billy Marshall Junior Award:               ASHLEY GIVAN

v  Press Officer of the Year:                KIM SIN YAP

v  Stiga Volunteer of the Year:             CON O’CEADAIGH

v  Joe Veselsky Merit Award:              TOMMY KEENAN

Further information is available from ITTA Secretary, Darren Coombes at [email protected] or by telephoning +353 1 625 1135

The ITTA is delighted to record the honour bestowed on Tony Phillips, Ulster Branch President in the Queen’s Birthday Honours list for “Services to Youth Sport”.

Tony, a stalwart of Irish and Ulster Table Table Tennis for many years, richly deserves the accolade he has received.  Through his continuous hard work and dedication he has made an huge contribution to many areas of Table Tennis and other sports.

We congratulate Tony and his family on its receipt.