Posts in category: Awards

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.

The ITTA has decided to introduce a new award, named in honour of Tommy Caffrey, one of Ireland’s greatest ever players and a long time supporter of Interprovincial Events. The award will be presented to the “Player of the Tournament” at each season’s Senior, Veterans/Under 21 Interprovincial Championships.

Launching the award, ITTA Chairman Joe Hickey stated:

‘There are many times when the word legendary is overused but, when I spoke at the 2009 Interprovincial series, I had no hesitation in referring to the legendary Tommy Caffrey. Apart altogether from his incredible record of achievement at table tennis, Tommy has, at all times, conducted himself in an exemplary manner and he is a perfect role model and ambassador for Irish table tennis. The Board are delighted that he acceded to our request that this new ‘Player of the Tournament’ award, to be given at the Senior, Veteran and Under 21 Interprovincial series,  be called the Tommy Caffrey Trophy.’

Tommy cites his career highlight as winning his first Irish Open in front of a packed house in Dublin in 1963, defeating former World Champion Johnny Leach in the Final. He returned 4 years later to reclaim a 2nd Irish Open title, this time in Omagh, with a victory over international team-mate Jim Langan. With an incredible 151 Senior International caps to his name, Caffrey is a true ambassador for table tennis and a role model for the elite players who aspire to follow in the trail he blazed. Still playing at a high level in Veterans Table Tennis sport and symbolic of the motto ‘A Sport for Life’, he has had a long association with the Interprovincials – he began representing Leinster in this event in 1958 and has yet to miss a year, a remarkable record of over 50 appearances in one of the domestic calendar’s most prestigious tournaments.

Speaking at the launch of the award, Caffrey was understandably thrilled:

“I am completely surprised but feel honoured and privileged that this important award recognising the outstanding player of the Interpros will be named after me”

This year’s Senior Interpros will be hosted by the Connacht Branch at Breaffy House, Castlebar, Co. Mayo on Friday & Saturday 26th and 27th March 2010.