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BVTTC News Release |
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NEW FACES AND NEW OPPORTUNITIES With
the new season just around the corner we take a look at the team
line-ups for 2005/2006 and how they might fare. It's been a difficult
selection process this year in some areas which has resulted in quite
a few changes to team personnel. Firstly,
congratulations to our 'A' team of skipper Neil Gooday, Peter Barrett
and Waseem Qureshi in securing their rightful place back in the 1st
Division. A club of this size
needs representation at the highest level and these three wholly justify
their position. But can they stay there? History is against them, but
let's wait and see! Our
'B' team led by Al Piper, with Ray Lawrence, Adrian Pitt
and Chelmsford Ladies Champion Julie Vansertima finished strongly
last year and will be looking to join the 'A' team in Div 1 after this
season. They will however need to maintain the consistency that was
sometimes missing last season. We
have two teams in the 3rd Division. The 'C' team, captained
by Mike Johnston - making his first appearance at this level for the
Club - includes regulars Duncan Elloy and Alastair Brown and new boy
Ryan Pitt, also chancing his arm at a higher level. They will be
battling against our 'D' team headed up by Frank Neill with relative
newcomer and ex-Romford League Div 1 player Steve Muth, Steve Back and
Stuart Skippings in support. You
may recall, Gareth Joyce played a significant part in this team last
season, but has now moved to Scotland! Both of these teams could
struggle in what is always a very competitive and close run division.
We feature a brand new line up In the 4th Division. A very experimental and ambitious one promoting two of our younger players and giving them a real chance to develop at a tough level. Newly appointed captain Bob Francis (who is one of the trickiest 'lefties' in the league to play against) leads the line-up and he is supported by our experienced Club Chairman Graham Turner. They are joined by the very much improved Bradley Hudgell, who won last season's 'Charlie Wheeler Award' for the most outstanding junior following his success in the League's Individual Championships last January. Bradley won the Junior Handicap Singles and also the 6-Down Singles, along with our own club junior singles tournament. Such is his improvement, he is given a chance to 'test the water' in a big jump from Div 6. And also Laura Pyman. Laura plays for Essex and represents Chelmsford in the Junior Girls British League. She also gets the chance to raise her game at this higher level, after playing in Div 5 last season. It would be surprising if they finished above half way, but you never know. Juniors can often pull a few surprises, especially if they can learn quickly.
We
are very lucky to have two teams in Div 5 again this season. The League
having accepted the Clubs application for a place in a higher division
than by right by the narrowest of margins. Well done Adrian for being so
persuasive! The 'F' team comprises captain Richard Upson, son
Haydn and Rykki Vansertima (who with Sam Pitt and Phil Twite narrowly
missed promotion from Div 6 last season). They are joined by Steve Clift
who played in Div 5 last season. These
boys are developing fast, so could do quite well and may just
upset a few teams. The
other Div 5 team is 'G' Team featuring Mike Robinson as skipper, with
Colin Gooday bringing all of his valuable experience to the table. They
are joined by Sam Pitt and Phil Twite to give a good mix of youth with
experience. If Colin can be persuaded to play a little more often this
year than he did last and if Sam can regularly produce his best then
this line up could be a match for any team in the division. But will
reality match expectation...? We have four teams in Div 6 so inter-club matches should be a regular feature of each teams fixtures. First there is the 'H' team - probably the oldest team in the League in terms of players ages, but by no means an easy team to get the better of. With a wealth of experience in the guise of captain Fred Henwood, the hard-hitting Ron Arthur, 'Masters of Defence' Peter Revell and Chris High and Les Webb they have the strength to take on anyone at this level. But with an average age of 69 will they have the stamina? As we all know, many a good tune is played on an old fiddle! So let's wait and see, expect them to be in the top 4.
The
'J' team is headed up by Diane Pitt with last season's team-mate
Jacqueline Smith who has gained considerable experience over the last
year. Ian Austin drops down from Div 5 and is joined by newcomer Andrew
Lager, who has been a regular at Adult Summer Coaching for a couple of
seasons now and has decided to try out at competitive level. This team
should do well at this level if the Captain can inspire the necessary
motivation. Our
'K' team of captain Eric Clift and his partner of last season Mick Pitt,
are joined this year by two up-and-coming young players Alex Stone and
Andrew Orme, again giving a good blend of youth and (dare I say) wisdom
to the side! These two
youngsters have come on in leaps and bounds over the last season and are
two to look out for in the future. It will be interesting to see how
they fare on their first outing into league table tennis.
Last, but not least, in the main league are our 'L' team, managed by Adrian and comprising daughter Hannah, Adam Pitt, Matthew Skeoch who all played together last year and they are joined by hard hitting Richard Napper. Once again, another young side who have improved tremendously over the last twelve months. Hannah is currently the Essex No.1 girl at U13, and in the top flight of girls at U15, U18 and U21 too. Hannah, Adam and Matthew regularly represent Chelmsford in the Eastern Region of the National Junior League. If they can swap some of their youthful exuberance for some tactical discipline then they have all the shots to cause major upsets. But don't be surprised if it doesn't come good this year. In
addition the Club also expect to be fielding 3 teams in the Introductory
League CLICK. The make up of these is uncertain at present but most will
have only very limited experience of competitive play. But you have to
start somewhere! Good luck to all our teams for the new season!
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