Welcome to the 2006 edition of BVTTC News.

This first year as Chairman has been an interesting one, and not without incident! Mostly mistakes of my own making! At least we are very fortunate that as a Club we have good Officers working for us, and so despite the inexperience of the Chairman the Club has managed to function very well. My thanks go to the Club Secretary and other Officers for their efforts on behalf of us all.

The Secretary’s report will tell more of the detail of the year, but I think it is worth noting that once again BVTTC has been in the forefront of junior table tennis in Chelmsford. We have added a new coach to the staff, Aaron Fennell (who is employed by the ETTA as a Community Sports Coach and shares his time between Thurstable School, Tiptree, and Melbourne) but have sadly lost the services of the League Coaching Officer. We must however remember that we are a Club for all ages, genders and abilities and need to ensure that our adult membership remains as healthy as our junior membership.

We are now fairly settled into Melbourne for Club Night, but remain fragmented with League play still at Newlands, which is less than satisfactory in some respects. We need to work towards bringing our activities more together.

As a Club we cannot afford to stand still. We have achieved tremendous things for local table tennis in recent years. Now we need to consolidate on those advances introducing more volunteers to work within the Club and providing the appropriate training and recognition to make those roles worthwhile. I would therefore like to urge each member to offer the fullest commitment possible to YOUR Club so that together we can build on the success story so far with a sustainable programme of development in the interests of all members, the wider community and ultimately the sport of table tennis. Together we can do it!

Again this year was relatively quiet in terms of Social Events. I am worried that the social side of the club that used to be evident at the old Church Hall is diminishing. Understandably moving from a 4 table venue at the Church Hall to an 18 table venue at Chelmsford Sport & Athletics Centre does have a lot to do with it. Any ideas/suggestions that you think could “pull” the club together would be most appreciated.

The Club Tournament had a completely new look this year and was held on Saturday 29^th April 2006 at the newly named Chelmsford Sport & Athletics Centre where the Club’s Club Night is held every Friday. The number of entries has decreased in the last couple of years, which is disappointing as it would be nice to see as many faces as possible at the Tournament as it is a great Social Occasion. This year due to time restraints Juniors were unable to participate in the Senior Event. The day started with the Senior and Junior Events being contested at the same time and the Doubles starting after the singles events had reached the Semi-Finals. The plan was to hold the four singles Semi-Finals at the same time, then the doubles Semi-Final and then to finish with the 3 Finals, but because of a late start, which was out of our hands, a couple of the Semi-Finals were played at the same time as the Senior Event Final. A good Day of Competition and the results are as below.

Tom Burns: -

Ted Harris: -

I also sent round a letter regarding the End of Season Meal last month and by the closing date I had only received comments/questions from 6 people and so I unfortunately had to cancel the booking.

Finally after my third year as Social Secretary at Baddow Village Table Tennis Club, I would like to ask not to be proposed for re-election for the forthcoming year. I look forward to seeing someone new take up the role and would like to wish them the very best of luck in the year to come.

Although division 2 was thought of this season as the strongest known, the B team still enjoyed a very successful season finishing in a respectable 6th position.

Again Adrian topped the team's averages, and strong back up from Julie, Ray, and Alastair helped the team to some excellent results. Although promotion was an outside chance at the mid way stage of the season, the team's chances were somewhat dented by a Billericay side containing Alex Green (England no 58) and a dubious reserve of Gary Tendler (England no 29!).

The team also reached the 2 down cup final where Adrian, Ray and Julie went down 2-5 to a very strong Danbury side (containing none of their regular league players) in a match that was closer than the score suggested.

Team spirit was again an important factor, and the local hostelry was
frequented often.

Looking forward to next season, where after a mass expenditure of new
bats and team shirts, we will certainly be the best dressed team, if not
the best table tennis team!

Statistically, the captain (as you would expect) played a crucial innings winning 2 out of 3 in the second half giving him an overall percentage of 53%.  Julie played consistently throughout the season, although again slightly better stats in the second half, but overall finished with 58%.  Adrian also finished strongly with 69% for the season.  Amazingly the doubles was one of the strong points for the team and with the captain being selective on pairings, it was difficult to say who were the most successful – perhaps it will be revealed next year.

This years C team consisted of two members of last years team Duncan and Alistair who were joined by Ryan and Mike who had moved up from Division four. The season got off to a great start when we won the first game but unfortunately things went downhill from that point loosing 1-9 to Hatfield and then 2-8 to OCs. What we did not know at that point was that these two teams would eventually finish quite comfortably first and second in the league and that our fortunes would improve as the season went on. Throughout the season we were always in the second half of the table but generally gave a good account of ourselves although we would all admit to believing we could each have won a few more games. During the season we were indebted to Graham Turner and Bradley Hudgell for helping us out with solid performances. Graham won all 3 of his games against Excalibur and Bradley won 5 out of six against Danbury. In the end we finished just above the D team and the closeness of the two teams was reflected by the fact that the two games played against each other ended as draws. Thanks to all my team mates for their efforts during the season and we look forward to next year.

“It would be surprising if they finished above half way” declared the club scribe prior to the commencement of the season. By the half way point of the season the scribe was even more pessimistic, “They should be able to do enough to stay in the division, but it will be hard!” In view of this a final position of fourth represented a fabulous achievement for the E team.

In fairness to the scribe, the final position was largely achieved by a stunning run of form in the second half of the season. During this period the E team lost only one game and managed to inflict one of only two defeats suffered by the runaway league winners. After the first few games Bradley quickly found his feet in the Division and lost very few games. Whilst some would view his 4-Down tournament win as an upset, I doubt that anyone that had already played him was too surprised! Laura’s game improved as the season went on and her natural attacking flair when combined with a more patient approach resulted in her winning her share of games. Laura also performed magnificently to finish runner up in the League Ladies Singles. Graham’s experience playing at a higher level proved invaluable to the other team members. As would be expected he won a lot more than he lost. Bob on the other hand found himself in on the losing end in too many entertaining games! All in all an excellent season for the E team. I suspect the club scribe will be more circumspect in his predictions for Laura and Bradley’s teams in future!

A season of two contrasting halves. In the first, it looked like the boys would hold their own in the not inconsiderable jump from division 6 to 5, and they finished the first half of the season respectably in mid table. But their form dropped off after Christmas, with only one match not resulting in a defeat in the second half. There were many close matches in their defence, but the tight ones seemed to slip away, particularly some key doubles matches. More consistency is needed against the better players at this level and more practice will be required if they wish to improve. During this patch and indeed throughout the season, there was however no bad feeling from them, and they conducted themselves very well. The final percentages were Rykki 44%, Haydn 43% and Sam 31% .They finished last, but the division was tight, with only a few points between the four or five teams at the bottom. I stepped in where required for a few matches. Perhaps a more regular contribution from me would have steadied the ship, but this was a Junior team in essence, and they had proved themselves ready for division 5, all exceeding 65% in 6 last season.

The boys reached the final of the Junior Cup for the second year in succession, where they were defending their title, but were defeated by the other Baddow team.

This was always going to be an interesting season with the contrast in playing styles of the four core members of the team comprising of the youthful and inexperience of Steve Clift and Phil Twite with the experienced and not so youthful Colin Gooday and Mike Robinson (Captain). 

The season was also going to be difficult due to the absence of Steve through work commitments, and Colin (to include, I believe, a second honeymoon). The team extend their thanks to Ian Austin, Eric Clift and Adam Pitt who made themselves available when called upon and helped contribute to the team's tally of points. The most pleasing aspects of the season was to see the significant improvement shown by Phil which was evident during the last game of the season against runaway leaders ECC “G” where he contributed in no small part, as did Colin, in securing a 5-5 draw and with it another season in division 5. This result also dismissed the growing theory of Baddow “G” being the new “13”. The stop start season did not assist Steve. I am sure however if Steve is able to play more regularly next season his confidence will be restored and his undoubted talents come to the fore. Phil's obvious improvement during the season was assisted in no small part by his willingness to listen to and follow instructions from Colin. 

Finally I think it is worthy of note to add that despite the obvious depths in the squads of other clubs, not least ECC and Danbury, and as a consequence their marked improvement towards the latter part of the season (in effect Championship form) the team were able to maintain their league status and indeed fell Five points short of 4th place. Thank you to my team mates for an enjoyable season.

The H team consisted of mainly OAP’s, mainly Ron, Fred, Chris and Les. On a couple of occasions we were supported by Peter, who unfortunately injured his shoulder whilst playing Diane (pulled shoulder muscle). Ron was the most consistent, winning 40 out of 44 games, Chris when available, usually returned at least 2 out of 3. Fred and Les did their best! Peter was not able to contribute much as he was only able to play in 2 games. The team ended up somewhere in the middle!

The J team was an interesting mix of players. Andy was a newcomer to the C&DTTL who having attended the adult coaching courses was persuaded to try his hand at competitive table tennis. His rather unorthodox style certainly worried a few opponents and he deserved to win more games than he did. Ian had previously played in Division 5 and he proved to be a steady No. 1. His best win was probably the convincing 3-0 defeat of club mate Richard Napper, a rather underrated young player. Jacqui in her second season playing for Baddow enjoyed her fair share of wins. Another unorthodox player, she forced many of her opponents to work very hard to beat her with her consistent blocking style of play. Diane as usual, tended to blow hot & cold, She could play brilliantly one week and to quote Ian “absolute rubbish!” the next. The team finished 7th if you are optimistic and 3rd from bottom if you are pessimistic, but did do remarkably well in the 6 Down Knockout Cup Competition, where we were runners up to the Div 6 league champions, Danbury. Could have had something to do with the fact that Diane found herself swapped with Adam Pitt, who with Ian and Andy progressed rather unexpectedly to the final. Danbury ran out convincingly 5:1 winners but the boys certainly did not disgrace themselves. An enjoyable end to the 2006 season!

The ‘K’ team was a new line up for the 2005/2006 season. Eric Clift and Mick Pitt were joined by the promising youngsters Alex Stone and Andrew Orme who had previously played in the CLICK league. This was their first time in the main league having done so well in CLICK and they were now ready for the step up to Div 6. 

We started well with a 6-4 victory over the ‘J’ team in our opening match, followed by a 9-1 win against OC’s ‘E’. After the first few matches, we found ourselves in 2^nd spot, where we were to stay for most of the season. Not that we were winning on a regular basis, but we were picking up points from almost every match under the new points scoring system, even with close defeats. We were never going to catch leaders Danbury ‘K’ who were running away with the title and the points difference was just too great. All was going well at this point though for a promotional 2^nd place…..

That was until 6^th Feb, where we were away to ECC ‘J’. We played on the Monday evening directly after the Chelmsford Individual Championships, where brother and sister Dacre and Stevie Pell with Tommy O’Donnell, fresh from playing good opposition all weekend were still fired up. So much so, that they totally destroyed us 10-0. After that, it all went pear shaped for us! Alex, who was our strongest player, was unavailable for a couple of fixtures, which cost us valuable points. Then, with two further defeats to our ‘H’ team (7-3) and our ‘L’ team (7-3) and missed weeks because of KO cup rounds, we lost all continuity and couldn’t regain our previous form. Our final match was against a two-man Ingatestone Excalibur where we scrambled a draw. We slumped into 5th position having played all of our matches. Teams above and below us still had two games in hand, so it was out of our hands now. Realistically, with only 7 wins, 7 defeats and 2 draws, our ‘K’ team are probably not quite ready for Division 5 yet and would have struggled to stay up had they been promoted.

However, looking back on the season, it was particularly encouraging to see the vast improvements made by all of our players. Alex didn’t drop many matches and proved to be a tricky opponent to most players in this division. He repeatedly came away with a clean sheet and secured some vital wins for us. Andrew had some good matches too, but couldn’t quite find the consistency needed in close matches to secure the wins. Mick has come on in leaps and bounds and his extra match experience gained by playing in the Braintree League has really shone through. Whilst not being essentially an attacking player, his retrieval skills are something to behold. As for Eric, he may regret not attacking more and relying instead on his defensive ‘choppy/ spinny’ style to see him through. His spinny serves earned him many points, but because most of the younger players are taught to ‘go for their shots’ and have developed good attacking drives, subsequent rallies ended with powerful smashes which he couldn’t retrieve. All in all though, a good performance by the ‘K’ team in a hard fought close league.

I had earlier predicted that our young ‘L’ team would be the ones to watch and sure enough, they have picked up some important wins to secure 2^nd spot. Congratulations to them and their promotion to Div 5 along with Danbury. What bad luck for ECC ‘J’ who just missed out. Oh dear. Never mind. Enough said….. My thanks must go to our ‘L’ team’s Matthew Skeoch for agreeing to stand in for us when we were short, to Alex and Andrew’s parents for their support and obviously to all my players for their efforts in an enjoyable season. We almost made it!

There are not many players in the Chelmsford & District TT League who can go through the whole of a season with a 100% record. But this is exactly what Tom Lee has achieved in CLICK this season. And with a smile! Equally there are not many teams who can boast going through the season unbeaten – and without even a draw – but Tom, Matt & Gavin can. These three boys have achieved an excellent performance, with Tom’s record being quite outstanding. And he has played against all of the toughest opponents putting in particularly good performances in the teams two closest matches against second placed team Hylands School where Tom’s unbeaten singles and share in the doubles with Matt was enough to see two very close matches won at 3:2. Tom’s 23 out of 23 wins were very well supported by both Gavin 12 out of 16 and Matt who achieved 13 out of 17. The team has been a joy to manage. Not only has their play on the table been excellent but so also has their commitment and conduct. All different in style and temperament but each has made vital contributions to the success of the team. They well deserve the divisional title of CLICK winners 2005/2006. Well done boys, let’s see how this translates into the League next season…!

N Team (CLICK)

Members: Brandon Crouchman, Scott Dowsett and Damien Laverty 
                 [Manager: Adrian Pitt]  

Thanks also to Greg and Terry for providing coaching, conversation and many a raised eyebrow during the course of the season.

O Team (CLICK)

Members: Claire & James Austin and Aled Upson [Manager: Ian Austin]

Aled and Claire started the first match of the season with a confident win over OC's G followed with a whitewash win for Claire & James over Danbury. The following match bought them back down to earth with a 5-0 loss to Hyalnds. We recorded 10 wins in the season with James showing real improvement as the season developed. Their weakness was in the doubles where neither James or Aled were au-fait with Claire being a left hander. All three players need to develop their serve. Thanks to Michael & Patrick Whelpdale who turned up at literally the last moment when James and Aled pulled out, and to Richard for the coaching.

Who is who?

See if you can answer these????????

Who is the only BVTTC member to win all their single games in 2005/6 season?

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Which BVTTC teams will be playing table tennis in a different division next year?

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What division did the Club’s auditor play in for the season just finished?

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Who put out Head Coach, Neil Gooday in the Tom Burns competition?

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Overall how many members does BVTTC have?

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Who is the chairman of the ETTA?

A Full report on the 2006 BVTTC Tournament can be found from News Features