4 counties

Report on ITTA Annual General Meeting 2009

by TTI News

The 2009 ITTA Annual General meeting was held on Saturday 6th June at the Clarion Airport Hotel, Dublin. A good attendance of 63 members heard reports of the last season’s activities and were updated about current initiatives within the Association.

Key Highlights/Initiatives : 

Schools: appointment of new Committee and Programme Manager to lead new schools initiatives in 2009/10 season

ITTA/IWA Relationship:   inclusion of wheelchair events in National Championships and arrangements for coaching, training and development

New Clothing Sponsor:  Butterfly Europe announced as clothing sponsor up to 2013.

Women in Sport:  vibrant programme in 2008/09 with appointment of WIS Coordinator in near future with generous Irish Sports Council funding

ITTA Events Committee:  aimed at improving the quality of events

DCU/ITTA Relationship:   provision of practice facilities and sports science support for elite players

Appointment of Senior Men’s National Coach:  Peter Nilsson, leading Swedish Club Coach

Coach Education Syllabi:  review of Level 1 and 2  Courses and introduction of  new Introductory Level Course; new ITTA Coaching Plan  prepared
 
ITTA/St. Patrick’s Training College:  arrangements in place to provide introductory courses for trainee teachers

Marketing Arrangements:  improved relationships including RTE Television and Setanta Sports; new website development, Hotshots ezine; new participation initiatives with Dublin City Council.

Review of ITTA Memorandum:

The meeting empowered the Board, inter alia, to review the ITTA Memorandum including the introduction of 3 additional Board posts for Participation, Coaching and Human Relations issues, the appointment of an Assistant Secretary, revised voting arrangements at General Meetings, the right to introduce revised affiliation fees and the introduction of regulations for the proper administration of Branches.

Election of Officers:

The following were appointed:

Hon. Life President:                  Mr. J. Veselsky
President:                                 Mr. A. Thackaberry
Vice Presidents:                        Mr. P. O’Brien
                                                 Mr.T. Martin
                                                 T Mahaffy
Chairman:                                 Mr. J Hickey
Secretary:                                 Mr. K. Strong
Finance:                                    Mr C. Cowan
Technical Director:                   Mr. J O’Donoghue
Marketing Director:                   Mr.T Farrell

ITTA Awards:

The following awards for 2008/09 were presented:

Joe Veselsky Award :  Joe Finnegan
Rhanbuoy Male Senior Player:  Gavin Maguire
Eleanor McKee Female Senior Player : Liu Na
Billy Marshall Junior/Cadet Player : Ashley Givan
Ken Strong Male Coach Of the Year : Finn Essex
Anna Kelly Female Coach of the Year : Sr Annette Murtagh
Press Officer of the Year : William Trimble
STIGA Volunteer of the Year : Shay Logue

For further information, contact ITTA Secretary, Ken Strong here  or by telephoning 0044 28 8224 3121.


Kenneth Strong
Director and Secretary
ITTA
29 June 2009

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European Youth Championships Squad Announcement

by International EventsTTI News

Irish team mates Ashley Givan and Sam Hanley

Following a demanding domestic season at Junior and Cadet level, the Irish squad has been announced for the forthcoming European Youth Championships which takes place in Prague, Czech Republic from the 9th to the 18th July, 2009.
 
Ireland will be represented by 3 teams:

Junior Boys – Paul McCreery, Sam Hanley, Ashley Robinson
 
Junior Girls – Claire Nelson, Rebecca Kenny, Ashley Givan
 
Cadet Boys – Stephen Slater, Declan O’Brien

Commenting on the squad announcement, ITTA Technical Director John O’Donoghue stated that this is the strongest Irish Youth squad in some years:

“This year, the selection process was for the coaches very tough, the players who made it on to the squad are to be commended for their commitment, workrate and ability…The aim in 2009 is to continue to improve our standing at this level, indeed it is a measure of our progress that we have decided to enter all players into both the Team and the Individual events. We would certainly hope for a top half finish, particularly from the Junior Boys who are very strong.”
 
As part of the elite Cadet programme, Stephen Slater and Declan O’Brien travelled to Halmstad, Sweden to take part in a cadet training camp under the direction of Senior Men’s Coach, Peter Nillson – this should help these promising young players prepare for the tests that await at European level.
 
This event will be covered on ETTU TV, click here for promotional clip.

The draw for the Team event has taken place and is as follows:
 
Jnr Boys: Slovenia, Switzerland, Azerbaijan
Jnr Girls: Estonia, Netherlands, Belgium
Cadet Boys: Norway, Portugal, Cyprus, Finland
Check out the ITTA website for further updates as the tournament progresses.

vets

Irish Veterans Shine at Blackpool

by International EventsMastersTTI News

A strong Irish squad recently participated in the English Northern Masters Veterans event in Blackpool, England. Teresa Devaney won two gold medals in the Over 50 category, taking both the Singles and Doubles gold(where she beat compatriots Terri McKeon and Irene McNevin in the Doubles Final). Other medal winners were Ulster-born players Jenny Harrison and Audrey Robinson(taking gold in the Over 70 category). The Veterans game is hugely important to the ITTA and we are looking to grow development in this area as part of our Strategic Development Plan. If you have any ideas on how we could achieve this or would like to assist in the process, please email this address.

STIGA

Table Tennis Ulster Sponsorship

by TTI News

Stiga and, their Agent, Tommy Fitzgerald Table Tennis, have entered into a longterm sponsorship agreement with Table Tennis Ulster for the provision of all equipment for Ulster and Northern Ireland Teams. In addition they sponsor a number of the Provinces top players and most recently assisted the Ulster Branch provide substantial equipment for competitions and to help the Regional Super Clubs Structure get off the ground.

Contact Tommy at 00353 1 8428744 or mobile 00353 87 6793955 email [email protected] or visit the website www.tftt.ie.

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Irish Juniors/Cadets Perform Well at 6 Nations

by International EventsTTI News

Four Irish Junior and Cadet teams travelled to Cardiff for the 6 Nations Junior and Cadet Championships, held at the Welsh Institute of Sport on the weekend of the 13th – 15th April. In a tournament totally dominated by England(winning gold in all available age categories), the Irish team did well to take home medals in each Team category also(team with medals pictured above). The Irish excelled in the Team events, taking 3 silvers and a bronze. The Junior Boys and Girls(Sam Hanley, Ashley Robinson, Claire Nelson and Sara Dolan) both took team silvers picking up wins against all of their opponents bar England. The Cadet Boys of Declan O’Brien and Stephen Slater also took home the Team silver, with 4 wins over Scotland, Wales, Guernsey and the Isle of Man. The Cadet Girls of Ashley Givan and Edel O’Reilly took bronze, losing out to England(again!) as well as the host nation. In all, it was a succesful weekend for all players and NPCs(Arthur Brett, Louise Long, Marcus McDonnell and Shay Logue). Highlights in the individual competition were the performances of Sam Hanley and Claire Nelson who both took bronze medals, Hanley narrowly losing to Welsh No.1 Patrick Thomas in the semi-final and Nelson losing to English No.2 Lucy Davidson in four sets.