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Welcome once again to BVTTC News! A review of the Club for the year 2001/02.

If you have been a follower of the BVTTC web-site then by the time you read this review you will already be well aware of what has been happening. But good things are always worth repeating. So here goes.

It has been an excellent year at the Club. Membership numbers have increased, the junior section is thriving, Club night has been consistently very well supported, there have been some great social occasions and our teams have done quite well in League and Cup competitions. Above all the Club has displayed more than ever its inclusive family atmosphere. A place where people of all ages and standards of play can come together to enjoy competitive and social table tennis. Long may it continue.

Last year we reported on joining the English Table Tennis Association (ETTA) PremierClub scheme. That membership has already brought tangible benefits. First we were honoured to gain a Regional Winners Award in the ETTA PremierClub of the Year competition at Participation level in our first full year of membership. A tremendous achievement. Then with support from the ETTA we were successful in an application for a grant from the Sports for All awards scheme. The grant of £2,500 has enabled us to completely renew our table stock – including new nets – and equip the newly launched satellite venture at the Cathedral School.

Mention of the Cathedral School introduces what has been another success story for the Club this year. The launch of a new Junior Coaching venture in September. Three Club members, Adrian Pitt, Neil Gooday and Jon Hill qualified in 2001 as ETTA Level 2 Coaches. And these new skills have not only been put to use for the Club but also for the Chelmsford League as a whole. With the blessing of the League the Club launched a new junior coaching venture, under the leadership of Club Coach Adrian Pitt. The Club has provided both the coaching staff as well as helpers and is now running two weekly sessions on a Friday evening at beginner and improver levels, with over 20 youngsters regularly attending. This is just one of a number of coaching initiatives that the Club has been involved in over the last year. It had earlier run a very successful junior Summer School followed by a training course for coaches and helpers, engaging the services of professional table tennis coach Peter Avenell from Suffolk. And newly appointed League Coaching Officer, Hil Dowsett (also a Baddow member), has been making use of spare capacity at the club premises to operate a small training squad session specifically for our own juniors in addition to his regular coaching sessions at Riverside Sports Centre.

All in all an excellent year for the Club. And again, long may it continue to be so.

CLUB MEMBERSHIP

You are reminded that Membership Fees are due by the end of July. It helps the Clubs cash flow if Members pay up promptly! The membership fee for 2002/03 will again be £35 (Juniors and those in full time education £5) for the year. This is the ninth successive year that we have been able to maintain this level of membership fee and it represents very good value for money for the opportunity to use the Clubs facilities for 50 weeks a year and represent the Club in the local league. For those wishing to play league table tennis registration fees will be a further £15 (Juniors £10) - again no increase. A total of £50 (Juniors £15). League teams will also be charged a "match fee" to cover the cost of rent for match nights. The amount will be notified to the team captains at the start of the season and is payable in full before the season ends. At present match fees average around £1.50 per match and it is hoped that we will be able to keep this at the same level for next year if we can maintain the same number of players and teams.

As usual Division 2 was very tight with little to choose between 4/5 teams. Part way through the season we were actually first with Waseem and Richard being the main contributors to the team. The second half of the season proved our undoing as we lost games to both ECC and Maldon, which put paid to any prospects of promotion. Waseem has to be our MVP (Most Valued Player) as he was the last person to beat Gary Ward in the league and was the most consistent performer with 68%. Richard 67% provided solid support to Waseem and Al 33% and I 61% picked up the occasional game to help secure a win. Al in all an enjoyable season and one that really got away from us in the end through a lack of consistency, especially by the 2 Down champ!

With what proved to be quite a tough division this year and non-availability of key players, we just about managed to stay up. In fact there were 7 matches played where we needed a reserve. Interestingly enough the reserves (Frank Neil, Robin Armstrong, Graham Turner, and Steve Back) all managed to win games; thanks for the support! With Neil and Duncan in the team the signs looked good at the start, but when Duncan became unable to play through important home nursing duties, much was going to be needed of Neil to deliver points. Alastair played with his usual enthusiasm and although he had many games going to three, 10 in total, he just couldn’t convert them into wins. Andy had many work commitments and his lack of practise meant his game suffered, recording just 5 wins in 6 matches. A situation that would have been greatly improved with more table time. Ever reliable, Geoff also had an up and down season. With his backhand drive working well he was unstoppable but the same stroke could also prove to be his undoing. Playing at a slightly lower than last season Neil was able to find his form again. It was this improvement on last season that kept the team afloat. Neil’s return of 89% being the second highest average in the division. A hard but altogether enjoyable season.

C Team (Div 4)

The C team had a very good season this year. We started off with a complement of 4 players but unfortunately this was reduced to a core of 3 players with the loss of John Barrett due to work commitments. However Frank, Bill & Steve played most games and at the half way stage we were lying a creditable second. We had good support from Nick Wool, Hil Dowsett & the Patman clan when we were unavailable to keep the points rolling in. Looking to get promoted until 3 games from the end when we lost 6.4 to the D team who, fortunately for them, won the division leaving us languishing in 3rd place. Still no hard feelings!

Once again, the F team started the season with a comfortable squad of 5 players including three promising juniors. Within weeks this was reduced to 4 when Steve had to return to Madeira. But with all players turning out regularly a stable playing season was achieved with the exception of the last match. The team achieved a very creditable 5^th position in what was a highly competitive and tight division. A few dropped points in the last few matches prevented reaching 4^th or even 3^rd. Star of the show was John Patman, whose progress from the previous season was impressive. His average of 80% proves he is now ready for the challenge of a higher division. He claimed several scalps of highly ranked players along the way, including Neil Want, Steve Cheesman, and Matt Brown. He was supported by steady performances from Dad Mark, and Richards average improved compared to last season. Ryan Pitt was also visibly improving as the season went on, as his game developed a more patient approach, whilst not losing the flair of his attacking play which was exciting when it came off.

With work commitments keeping Hil out of the line up for two-thirds of the season and Russell taking an evening job the backbone of the H-team became David (strategic game plan analyst), Sam (making her full-time debut for BVTTC), Thomas (Hurricane) Hill and Diane (captain & ace refreshment provider!). Our first match was against OC’s E which we duly lost 7-3, although David won 2/3 and Thomas had a superb win over Terry Burney and only lost 21-23 in the third to the late John Gardner! We managed to win 4 matches; against Writtle twice and Hatfield Peverel twice, and draw 3 which gave us the dubious total of 29 points. This resulted in us finishing 4^th from top or 4^th from bottom whichever way you choose to look at it! Some good fortune did come our way in February when Hil became available to play and achieved 100% success in his 3 outings! However it was still a somewhat disappointing season especially for David who won an excellent 84% of his games but received extremely erratic, if any, support from his team mates, whose percentages are best not dwelt upon (41% added together)! Despite all this, a most enjoyable season of table tennis was had by all. It should be noted however that all 3 regular team members have signed up for the adult coaching course, so next season …!

Members:  Sam Pitt, Philip Twite, Richard Mayne 
                  [Manager Diane Pitt & Geoff Twite]

The team comprised Philip Twite (12), Sam Pitt (11) and Richard Mayne (11). For Philip and Richard it was their first taste of regular competitive table tennis with Sam being a "veteran" in his 2^nd season! Whilst Richard was an able support for the team, due to other commitments he only played a couple of times – sadly missed. That left Sam and Philip as the mainstay of the team although on occasions their ranks were boosted by the introduction to League play of Tom and Ed Miles from Cathedral Coaching. Whilst Tom and Ed unfortunately had no wins in their first competition, this will change as they continue with their coaching. Despite the changing personnel, the team always seemed to have a formidable doubles pairing, this game often proving to be the decider in the overall match. This was especially the case in one of the most nail-biting matches (especially for parents) against another Baddow team, Cathedral A (Haydn and Rykki), where BV Click won the match 12-10 in the fifth set of the doubles. Overall, the boys finished 4^th behind the 3 very strong ECC teams, with Sam scoring a very creditable 62%. In a division of 10 teams this was a very pleasing result.

K Team (Baddow Cathedral A CLICK)

Members:  Haydn Upson & Rykki Vansertima 
                  [Manager: Richard Upson & Julie Vansertima]

The regular and structured coaching sessions are clearly paying off as Haydn and Rykki both improved to more or less the same level at around 45-50% each. Some players they were losing to last season have now been overhauled, and the future bodes well as the training and development continues. Due thanks to Hil, Adrian, Neil, John and others for their dedicated efforts. ECC predictably filled the first three places in the league, but the Baddow teams are coming up fast and duly filled the next three places with Haydn and Rykki claiming the fifth spot. Highlight of the season was a magnificent victory over the then second placed ECC team, culminating in a fine 5 set doubles win to seal the match. The grins were indeed wide! The lads also gained some valuable experience of tournament play and notched up one or two useful wins to spur them on for the future.

L Team (Baddow Cathedral B CLICK)

Members:  Tony Hill, Adam Pitt, Matthew Skeoch, Ed & Thomas Miles, Dylon Robin-Coker 
                  [(Manager: Mike & Shirley Pitt)]

During the season we were impressed by the way the team encouraged each other throughout the matches. Tony Hill, who we imported from Writtle Club, had some excellent wins during the season, which helped us win 7 games. He had good support from Matthew Skeoch and Adam Pitt. Dylan joined the team in the latter part of the season and played well sharing in one of the best wins of the season at Ingatestone Boys Club. This helped to keep the team spirit up. One match that sticks in my mind was when we played ECC ‘P’ at home, where Tony beat both Ben and Dan Rayner and in the doubles, partnered by Adam, won an exciting match going to 5 games with the last game resulting in Baddow winning 12-10. In fact Tony and Adams doubles play was something well worth watching. We look forward to next season and hope to improve on our successes.

Organisation of the tournament this year fell to Neil Gooday and Waseem Qureshi for the first time. And what a splendid job they did. Held over three days there was a record entry. In order to reduce playing time and fit matches in a new positive handicap system was devised to make matches shorter. Nevertheless competition was still fierce. Perhaps above all the tournament was a great social occasion, plenty of nibbles and drinks, good company and very well organised. The only snag, we forgot to call in the cameras for the doubles event!

The Ted Harris Youth Trophy

With 11 juniors taking part, more than twice the number of last year, the event was staged in four groups with the group winners going through to a knockout semi-final and final. Big handicaps for the better players were expected to lead to a few upsets; but in the event the groups themselves gave few surprises. Ryan Pitt (-15), Sam Pitt (+4), Martin Chattey (0) and Philip Twite (+7) coming through the groups relatively unscathed. In the first semi-final Martin showed how his form has really come back since returning to play in September so that despite giving Philip a points advantage his greater age (15 compared to 12) and experience took him through. The other semi-final was a quite different affair. Sam took some time to get used to Ryan’s side spin serving but in other departments of the game matched him point for point making the most of his handicap advantage. But Ryan fought like a tiger to sneak through at 26:24 in the third. The final looked as if it could go either way. And the first two games proved that. But in the third, Martin seemed to run out of steam allowing Ryan to win the trophy at his first attempt –23, 17, 10 in what was an excellent match with some first class play from both players. The youth trophy also featured, for the first time, a consolation event. Here it was particularly encouraging to see 10 year old Adam Pitt (Ryan’s brother!) emerging as the winner. Adam has made great strides in his play in his first year at Baddow and his grit and determination shone through as he fought for every point. Well done and who knows, the winners podium in the main event next year?

Former Club Chairman  Ted Harris, after whom the trophy is named, is seen here with the two finalists in the Ted Harris Youth Trophy, Ryan Pitt and Martin Chattey. Martin was the first winner of the trophy in 2000 when it was introduced.

The Tom Burns Trophy

With a bumper 38 entrants to the main event it was necessary to divide it in two halves for the initial group stage with 8 groups playing on Monday and a further 7 on Tuesday. With new positive handicapping it was not surprising to find that the groups threw up some interesting results. Young Matthew Skeoch disposing of former Chairman Ted Harris, Adam Pitt removing John Robinson, Rykki Vansertima downing John Barrett and Haydn Upson upsetting Nick Wool in the first half of the draw. By contrast few surprises seemed to emerge from the groups in the second half of the draw. But here were some serious players indeed, with Waseem Qureshi, Adrian Pitt, vastly improved John Patman and the steady Michael Robinson all coming through. Although youngsters had some early victories in the groups it was only Rykki who was able to take it a step further taking up a quarterfinal place against Graham Turner. Graham had previously narrowly disposed of Neil at the point where it looked as if Neil might be in line for a fourth crack at the title. Rykki put in a tremendous effort in this match but a fluke miss-hit at the end of the third saw Graham through 25:23. Returning to competitive play after a lay-off for tennis elbow Colin Gooday showed that he still has flare and fight, taking out two heavily handicapped juniors before disposing of Ryan over three ends to take up a place to play Graham in the first semi-final. It had been 10 years since Colin and Graham played each other in this event, and last time it was the final. On that occasion Graham won, repeating the same this time to take a final place again.

The trophies for all three events were presented by former Secretary, Frank Harris at the AGM.