News Archive - April to June 2011

Volunteers Needed for Sparks Event 

The committee is request some volunteer help from its members on Sunday 24^th July at the Sparks in the Park event taking place at Horsham Park, 12-6pm

This is a big community/family event timed to coincide with the national Olympic Weekend celebrations with one year to go before 2012. Last year, in good weather, the event attracted an estimated 10,000 visitors and the basic table tennis provision of tables to play on was a popular feature. So, weather allowing again, this represents a fantastic opportunity for the club to promote itself to a wide audience.

There will be 6 tables up plus a robot but we need volunteers of all ages to really make the best of it and share the simple delivery. As well as the TT there will be lots of things going on at the event – sports, arts, fairground, carnival, musical performances and charity stalls so this will be a good thing for you and your family to visit anyway.

We need people to fill the following timeslots in the TT area – 12-2pm / 2-4pm / 4-6pm – so please contact Ian Ford by email or phone (ian.ford@horsham.gov.uk / 07764-146338) by Sunday 3^rd July to sign up. Once we know who we have available to help we will put together and communicate a delivery plan so everybody involved knows how things will work and their role on the day.

 

Y-Centre Set for Sportivate TT

Horsham District Council have been successful with a Sportivate funding application to run table tennis programme for residents of the Horsham Y Centre in the autumn term.

A pilot session in the spring indicated the potential popularity of table tennis at the centre which led to the bid and the leaving of two tables there for casual play.

It's hoped that eight sessions of coached provision will lead to some good players emerging from the centre and linking to HTTC.

Sportivate is a Sport England funding programme administered by Active Sussex and designed to get more 14-25 year olds active.

 

Junior Development Squad Set Up for Summer

Steve Pound is starting up a Junior Development Squad at Greemway on Sunday afternoon's to give to club's stronger juniors even more opportunity to improve. Marc Burman has been engaged to coach the group.

Sessions will run 2-5pm on the following summer dates: 5/12/19 June, 3/10/17 July

For further information contact Steve Pound

 

Quiz Enlivens AGM Night

Horsham TTC staged a quiz night last night and it proved a great success with over 40 people attending.

Outgoing Club Chairman, Alan Shipley, and Membership Secretary, Eve Alexander masterminded the evening which involved a buffet, a raffle, a TT intermission and a nine-round quiz.

Amidst the enjoyment the club even managed to squeeze in its Annual General Meeting. Less than 30 minutes duration probably represents a welcome club record and with over 20 attenders it is probably safe to say that the club has hit on a formula that it will use in future years. Yes, AGMs don't have to be painful. Read the one page of minutes here.

Seven teams battled out the quiz which brought together both juniors and seniors, members and guests alike. Winning team with a score of 182 came from the Hoad table where dads Martin and Steve were probably carried by the knowledge of their children. Dave Richardson's table came second with 172 and Graham Carter's band third with 168.

Mark Collins was awarded Club Junior of the Year and Rory Scott Clubman of the Year for their past season's endeavours.

Well done to Alan and Eve for their great work.

 

 

Silver Ping Project Gets the Go-Ahead

Horsham District Council's Leisure Link team has been successful in securing £10,000 to develop table tennis activity within residential care home settings for older people. The project - Silver Ping - will be delivered in partnership with a number of other organisations, notably Horsham Table Tennis Club and is part of the Leisure Link team's plan to offer as wide a range of people within the district as possible a chance to share in the area's Olympic participation legacy.

The extended project follows in the wake of a highly successful pilot sessions that were run at the Henfield Day Care Centre last year (scroll down to bottom of this page)

For further information contact Paul Taylor on 07764-146339 

 

Kate Plays for England

Horsham TTC member Kate Cheer,10, played for the England Primary Schools Team recently in a home international event in Cardiff.

Read Graham Carter's report here and view results on the Alliance website here

 

The Y Goes Ping

Residents of the Horsham Y Centre are enjoying the benefits of playing table tennis after coaches from Horsham District Council’s Leisure Link team ran a taster session and left equipment behind them on an ongoing loan basis.
 
15 young men and women took part in the early session which involved some starter coaching, a specialist robot, a stint of the popular game ‘runaround’ and matchplay. Some of the players had clearly played to a reasonable level before and quickly knocked off the rust of time to demonstrate real performance potential. At least one player is intending to visit Horsham Table Tennis Club at Greenway School to get back into the sport more seriously.

Learning and Engagement Support Officer at the Y Centre, Jason Roberts, was thrilled at the success of the evening which represents another piece of progress in the centre’s growing link with the Council’s community development team, saying “I’m really pleased about this project has started particularly as the residents took the initiative in requesting and promoting it. I expect the two tables we’ve now got will get plenty of use!” 

For further information contact Ian Ford on 01403-215634 or Ian.ford@horsham.gov.uk

 

Outdoor TT Glee for HTTC

Horsham Table Tennis Club has just received confirmation of a £8,000 Small Grant from Sport England that will allow it to invest in deploying a number of outdoor table tennis tables at strategic locations in the Horsham area. It is hoped that by allowing casual participation opportunities the tables will stimulate more interest in table tennis, especially in the lead up to the 2012 Olympics where TT has become one of the most watched sports.

The initiative follows in the footsteps of the English Table Tennis Association’s ‘Ping London’ project which was successfully piloted on a large scale last summer in the capital.

For further information about Horsham Table Tennis Club click here or contact ian Ford 07764-146338 / Ian.ford@horsham.gov.uk

 

Age Proves No Barrier to TT Enjoyment!

Elderly visitors to the Henfield Day Centre recently proved that you are never too old to enjoy the benefits of table tennis.

Coaches and helpers from Horsham Table Tennis Club supported by Horsham District Council’s sports development team ran a pilot session of table tennis activity for 11 of the centre’s clients in an exercise that proved highly successful.

The players ranged from 65-92 years of age were initially given instruction in the basics of grip and ball control before moving on to rally play and target games. Some played from a standing position, some chose to play seated but whatever the stance the common thread was that all were actively and enjoyably engaged.

Cathy typified the ‘have-a-go’ spirit scoring 25 points on the archery target challenge, scoring two bullseyes from her three attempts and suggesting she had not been so active for years. John who has a learning disability was slightly nervous about picking up a bat but once he did so did not want to put it down and attended to all the challenges with great enthusiasm. Cliff demonstrated the skills which proved he once played the game at a good level and still had the touch.

Day Centre supervisor Julie Moore declared, “The session was fantastically received by the whole group. Indeed we had our two clients with Alzheimer’s Disease really got into it. I’m amazed that in 90 minutes we didn’t have one person drop-out and they were all going strong at the end! We’re looking forward to the next instalment!”

Horsham District Council’s Community Recreation Officer, Paul Taylor, was equally delighted, “The session exceeded our expectations and certainly we will be looking how to build on the success by running more sessions in the Horsham District. In the context of an aging population we’re always keen to explore new ways of keeping our older residents active and happy and table tennis fits the bill well as an inclusive activity for players of all age and most physical capability levels.”

The coaches also learned one or two useful lessons from the experience too. For example, Eva who has spinal problems couldn’t quite lift her elbow high enough from a sitting position and had to adapt by pushing the ball with the leading edge of her bat – a challenge they will be ready to address next time it happens.

For further information about the provision of table tennis sessions for older people in the Horsham District contact Paul Taylor on paul.taylor@horsham.gov.uk or 07764-146339