Cambridgeshire Table Tennis Association
Minutes of the CTTA Committee meeting held at Haddenham Sports & Social Club
on Tuesday 18th January 2011.
Present
Keith Richardson (KR) President
Martyn Livermore (ML) Chairman / Acting Secretary /Acting Press Officer
Brian Freer (BF) Treasurer / National Councillor
Martyn Gray (MG) Senior Team Secretary/ Development Officer
Roger Fensom (RF) Veterans Team Secretary
Janet Nicholls (JN) Coaching Secretary
Carl Woolf (CW) Ely League Representative
John Blyth (JB) Wisbech League Representative
Tracey Sambrook (TS) Acting Cambridge League Representative
Andrew Maguire (AM) Ely League Representative
Apologies
Val Parkes (VP) Cambridge League Representative
Trevor Carter (TC) Peterborough League Representative
In the absence of a Secretary, it was agreed that Keith Richardson would stand in as Chairman for the meeting and Martyn Livermore would take the minutes.
BF reported that he had heard that Suffolk were also struggling for a Committee.
Minutes of the last meeting
KR ran through the minutes of the last meeting (28/9/10). These were agreed and signed as a true record.
Matters arising
Nobody had put themselves forward for the position of Secretary of the Association. TS said she would stand in as Secretary for future meetings if no nominations were forthcoming. ML to contact ETTA to advise.
BF reported that after discussions with Roger Howard, the St Neots Summer League will be paying their affiliation to the CTTA.
JN reported that a second coaching session had been set up with Alex Green for 30th January 2011 at Neale Wade.
Correspondence
There had been no correspondence received, due to the fact Kevin Gray was still listed as the County Secretary. Martin Gray had not been given any correspondence to bring to the meeting.
Treasurer’s report
BF All member leagues had paid their affiliation fees with the exception of St Neots.
The current account stands at £461.92 and the deposit account at £561.33.
BF reported that expenses for the County sides so far this season stand at £884, with more matches still to play. He said we must generate a huge amount of money at the tournament to be able to pay more expenses. He felt that travelling expenses are phenomenal at approx £250 so far, with some players not claiming travelling expenses. He felt it was understandable that when teams were playing weekends away that we pay £30 per player towards accommodation expenses.
After a long discussion it was agreed that we should continue paying the £30 for accommodation, but to only pay £0.28 per mile for fuel/travelling expenses for one car. This would then need to be split if more than on car was taken.
Match Secretaries’ reports
Seniors
MG reported on the Division 2C Senior weekend at Wellingborough, played on the 20th & 21st November when the team finished fourth. We were represented by Steve Annison, Wayne Mason, Kevin Gray, Martin Gray, Maria Boulton, Helen Arnold, Tracey Sambrook and Caroline Wright. Unfortunately with Maria unavailable for all of the games it meant we were not really strong enough in the Ladies section. Wayne Mason had made an impressive 1st team debut winning 10 out of 12 singles. Suffolk had comfortably won the division.
MG hoped the squad would be stronger next season with the addition of Shaun Hall.
JB reported that Matthew Knott had resigned his position as Wisbech League representative due to being unhappy with the selection process for the Senior County team. MG explained the reasoning behind the selections that had been made for the Senior side. This was discussed and agreed that as always, it was a difficult decision as our County Closed Championships the only time we can gauge the standard of our players for the ranking list.
Juniors
No report had been received from Lesley Rate. It was noted that they should have played their first series of matches on 16th October at Wellingborough.
Their next round of matches should be 2nd April.
Veterans
RF reported on
1st team in Div 2A.
Matches played at Draycott on 13th/14th November we were represented by David Tiplady, Kevin Gray, Mick Harper and Yvette Hooks.
v Lincolnshire lost 8-2
v Durham lost 7-3
v Cheshire II lost 8-2
v Leicestershire II drew 5-5
Matches played at St Neots on 8th/9th January we were represented by Simon Pryke, Kevin Gray, Robert Swift, Mick Harper (doubles only) and Yvette Hooks.
v Northumberland won 6-4
v Nottinghamshire drew 5-5
v Norfolk won 6-4
Played 7 Won 2 Drawn 2 Lost 3 Points 6
2nd team in Div 3A
Matches played at Draycott on 27th/28th November we were represented by David Rowell, Terry Lane (2 matches), Liam Mohan (2 matches) and Diane Gutteridge. Due to Liwu Wei dropping out on the Wednesday prior to the event we were a man short in all 4 matches.
The remaining three matches to be played at Halifax on 22nd January against Lancashire II, Warwickshire and Clwyd and we will be represented by Liwu Wei, David Rowell, Steve Trevanion and Diane Gutteridge.
3rd team in Div 4B
Matches played at Reading on 23rd/24th October, we were represented by John Blyth, Mike Crowson, Terry Lane and Tracey Sambrook.
v Berkshire III lost 9-1
v Oxfordshire III lost 8-2
v Northants III lost 7-3
The remaining matches are to be played at St Neots on 12th/13th March against Hertfordshire IV, Northants II and Hertfordshire V. We will be represented by Andy Merritt, John Blyth, Mike Crowson, Terry Lane and Tracey Sambrook.
Over 60’s in Premier Division
The divisions were reorganised this season and we have found ourselves in a very strong Premier Division played at Ashford, Middlesex on 16th/17th October. Our team was Rod Hatton, Roger Fensom, Chuck Kershaw and Val Parkes.
v Essex lost 9-1
v Berkshire lost 10-0
v Sussex lost 10-0
The remaining matches to be played at Keighley on 2nd/3rd April against Kent, Yorkshire and Lancashire. We expect to have the same team for these matches.
Umpires Secretary’s report
BF said the Eastern Region are trying to organise a day to attract new umpires.
Press Secretary’s report
ML No reports had been forwarded from the match secretaries for publication in the press.
RF had sent the Veterans Ranking list which had been uploaded to the website.
ML asked for updated ranking lists for both Senior and Junior sides to be forwarded to him for publiacation on the website before the Closed Championships.
League reports
Cambridge
TS read a report prepared by VP. She reported that two rounds of the Handicap Competition had been completed. A Premier League of 6 teams had been discussed at recent meetings. However league members do not seem to be supporting the change.
The Closed tournament was being played over two days at St Neots, splitting the events with the Junior events played on Sat 15th January and the Senior events on Sunday 6th February.
Cambridge have entered teams in both the Wilmott Cup and Rosebowl and will host both events on Sat 22nd January. Both Men’s and Ladies teams have difficult groups.
Ely
CW stated that the Ely League had now started the 2nd half of their season, with two rounds of the handicap completed. The Closed tournament will take place at Ross Peers Sports Centre in Soham on 20th February.
March
No report
Peterborough
ML had received a report from TC who had said that they are still struggling for committee members, but are running 2 divisions with 20 teams.
St Neots
ML & BF had both been in communication with Roger Howard at St Neots. He had told ML that there were no representatives on the CTTA as they don’t run a league at St Neots. BF had found out that there are various Summer and Winter leagues played at St Neots. Any league being played there should be affiliated and BF and KR would continue to look into this and contact Roger. BF suggested that we should receive the affiliation from their Summer League.
Wisbech
JB said they have a full committee running one division of 10 teams. Trojans are currently leading the division.
The tournament will take place at the Walton Highway school over the weekend of 5th/6th February. They will be holding a social evening towards the end of the season in conjunction with the Kings Lynn league.
National Councillors report
BF will be attending a meeting over the coming weekend and will report at the next meeting>
Coaching Secretary’s report
JN confirmed there had been a good response to the Coaching sessions being run by Alex Green at the Neale Wade Sports Centre in March on 30th January. The senior session is full and there are only a few spaces left in the Junior session. Representatives were asked to check with any Juniors in their Leagues if they may be interested.
Helen Arnold had now passed her coaching badge and Kevin Gray needs to retake one section.
CTTA Closed Championships
BF said that entry forms are now available. It was agreed that these should be distributed via email and the League representatives should make sure they are available to all players in their leagues. Forms need to be added to all websites.
JB queried if there was any sponsorship for the Championships. BF said he would be delighted if someone else would take this on. MG said he would speak his contact at Bribar Sports.
ML asked for help setting up the tables etc on Friday 18th March. It was hoped Derek Stacey would be able to arrange for the PA system and that Trevor Furlong will be at the venue to supervise the setting up of the tables.
ESTTA report
No report received
AOB
MG said there is once again interest in a Junior League being set up. It was agreed that if this was to take off it would need to be held at a central venue once a month. Hugo Brown had expressed an interest and MG & JN said they would make contact with him.
MG said he will not be continuing on the CTTA committee and we will need to replace him as Senior team Secretary and Development Secretary.
RF said he needs some help with refreshments for the Veterans weekend on 12th/13th March at St Neots.
Date of next meeting
Tuesday 29th March 8pm at Haddenham S&SC.
Meeting closed 10.45pm