Bath Street Marine Table Tennis Club
A Table Tennis England PremierClub
May 2024 Issue
BSMTTC News
Chairman's Introduction
Welcome to the 2024 Newsletter, containing a round up of the Club's year to 30 April 2024. On behalf of the Management Team I would like to thank all members for your continued understanding, allegiance, loyalty and support through another year. It has been a good year, with further growth and some great work done in encouraging table tennis through the coaching programmes, and especially the new initiatives, like the adult coaching. I would particularly like to thank all of the volunteers who make this club tick, and ensure that it continues to run for the benefit of all. Bath Street Marine Table Tennis Club is a great place to come to, where all can find welcome and acceptance.
Secretary's Report
It has been an interesting year! In my view, one of the busiest administratively that I can remember in the 12 years that I have held this post! Fortunately, these days I seem to forget more than I remember! It has also at times been a difficult year both in terms of administration and on the table tennis front – especially league table tennis.
We started the year with a Resolution to terminate the members club and transfer everything to a new entity. As you have already heard this has not been fully possible. But gradually we are moving forward.
Indeed, moving forward has been a continuous theme of this club in recent years, and for myself I am delighted that as a club we are continuing that path.
Let’s start with our building. It seems that by careful management we have just about kept control of the ‘condensation’ issue that we had! Indeed, it seems we may have insulated our building too well! By cutting off air flow under the building it has allowed damp to build up underneath which has damaged some parts of our floor! Air vents have now been inserted to allow air flow and this summer a repair will be made to the floor – at a cost! Our property management team led by Keith & Bernard have done a magnificent job, helped by our housekeeping team led by Lesley. It is a major undertaking to maintain a building such as this 7 days a week throughout the year, and we should do all we can to support and encourage the team – all of whom are volunteers.
The full introduction and use of CCTV both inside and outside the building has helped protect the building and keep people safe. We have been able to use this to quickly identify when, how and who, when things go wrong. Perhaps this is an opportunity to remind you all of a few things.
· Security is really important, setting the alarm on departure, ensuring all windows and doors are properly locked. These are responsibilities of the last person out – whatever the occasion.
· If you are coming to play at the building other than at a ‘group’ activity, you should book a session using the online booking platform. And our diary is still in use, if you have not booked online. If you have any problems with booking online get in touch with me.
· If you need to move table tennis tables, please use two people. The tables we have can be quite hard to manage single handed. Indeed, we had one incident this year where a table was seriously damaged by inappropriate handling. Tables are expensive items of equipment and need to be looked after. Further if you do move or change round a table, please try to put the room back to how you found it afterwards. This is particularly important over the summer. Do not leave it or assume that people coming in the next morning will be able to re-arrange the room.
We are a progressive club. And it has been good news to see our club involved in at least 3 new initiatives over this past year.
· First, through our newest qualified coach, Dave Aimson, and assisted by Steve McCormick, we have been able to introduce and offer for the first time, short courses of adult coaching – aimed particularly at adults just starting out on a table tennis journey. So far, we have run 3 courses, which have been fully subscribed with an average attendance of 10 at each session. Encouragingly 70% of the participants have been female.
· Through the organisation and efforts of Ian Brownrigg and one or two others we have been instrumental in supporting and developing a new North Liverpool ‘Mini League’ of short format matches, designed for those looking for an introduction to competitive play, who have not yet become regular participants in any main league table tennis. This has been a highly successful and enjoyable new initiative and has now led to our own internal Mini League running over the summer closed period.
· Our club has, for the first time, partnered with the Liverpool League in an initiative to develop junior players who may be able to go on and represent Liverpool in inter-league competitions. Roughly once a fortnight on a Sunday afternoon/evening two groups of juniors meet at our club under the tutelage of coach Paul Hutchings to receive enhanced coaching and practice that we hope will lead to a significant development of their ability. 7 of our own juniors have been invited into this new initiative, and the benefits are already being seen. Through this initiative, 4 of our juniors were able to represent Liverpool in an interleague competition in the Lancashire & Cheshire League. Ivan, Scott & Kai who played in Junior Div 2 won that division and were presented with winners medals at the recent League AGM.
I am sure there are other initiatives too, but to my mind these highlight the progressive nature of our club and how we are not content to stand still.
We are a table tennis club. But I am delighted to be able to say we are far more than a table tennis club! This is a place where people are made to feel welcome, which is diverse and inclusive, and where new friendships can be built. Come to this table tennis club, and there is every possibility that in addition to table tennis you will be invited, if you wish, to join in occasional social activities that don’t involve table tennis! It may be a meal out, a Christmas social, a boat ride and a cream tea, or a trip into the town centre for some food, fun and alternative sports! Or even getting involved in Marine in the Community. It is a really positive aspect of our club that all of these things have been on offer over the past year. None are compulsory, but never let it be said this club is JUST a table tennis club!
Now, let’s turn to table tennis! The year begun with a Teens Mini Summer League, providing the opportunity for some of our juniors to prepare for the forthcoming league season and for others to consolidate on the 2022/23 seasons play. We also held our first all junior tournament day. Played at Marine in 3 age groups it was a real feast of junior table tennis. Then there was the day when social play was interrupted by the unexpected visit of Everton legend footballer, Duncan Ferguson. And in the heat of summer, we had two groups of Ukrainian children from their summer club, who, as part of their activities came for some table tennis sessions. It is really encouraging that table tennis for juniors continues to be at the heart of what we are doing as a club. Offering junior coaching sessions, an opportunity to progress to the teens group and to move on and into league and competitive play. It has been great to have James Haskell joining the club coaching team and helping to make a difference to the way children play and enjoy table tennis. And I would like to pay tribute to all who either lead or support our activities for juniors.
The summer was also used to organise and enjoy some friendly matches involving players from Marine and Maghull TTC’s, and in the autumn another evening of friendly matches involving a ‘University Challenge’ with students from Edge Hill University.
Just prior to the start of the League season we held the Annual Club Tournament. Once again using the excellent facilities at Anfield Sports & Community Centre. A slightly lower than normal turn out however, made this a rather costly day! There was however some great table tennis, and new champions were crowned in each event. I would welcome your views on our tournament. Because of cost we cannot go to Anfield again this year, and it looked as if we might not be able to hold a tournament. But a venue at Old Roan is being looked at and hopefully there will be a tournament on 7 September 2024.
For the first time the club entered 11 teams in the Liverpool League for the 2023/24 season, details for each team will appear in the Annual Newsletter that will be shortly released. It is fair to say that with so many teams’ administration of the league programme this year has been quite a task. I am grateful for the assistance Andy Armstrong has provided to me in this area, and to the team captains for all they have done to manage their squads. Injuries and absences have had a significant impact this season, but broadly we have got through! 11 teams also presented the headache of where they all played. With league play only played on weekday evenings and 3 junior teams in the line-up it was not possible to play all matches at Marine, we just don’t have the table capacity. Fortunately, we were able to squeeze two of the junior teams into an adult session at Anfield! But it is unlikely that will be able to continue, so some creative thinking will be needed for the 2024/25 season.
Highlights in the League programme were:
· the performance of our A Team in Div 1, who finished 3rd, an exceptional achievement; So much so, that team member, Lawrence Kenwright, was recognised at the recent League AGM as the most improved player in Div 1 for the 2023/24 season.
· The F Team in Div 4, a new team and a 3rd place finish, again a very strong performance.
· And our Junior I Team in Div 5, who totally unexpectedly took a remarkable 3rd place – twice beating the team immediately above them and holding the divisional winners on both meetings. A fantastic performance by the juniors – and here I would like to pay tribute to Mike Taylor, a grandparent of one of our juniors, who faithfully supported just about every match the I team played, and who has now become a very accomplished umpire and scorer!
We managed to achieve 3 semi-final places in respective Divisional Cup competitions. Both our first and A team reached the semi-final in the Div 1 Cup, the E Team reached the semi-final in Div 4 Cup, and the H Team reached the semi-final in the Div 5 Cup. Sadly, we couldn’t convert any of those moments to places in a final!
But once again the club did excel in the Frank Murphy Veterans Handicap Cup competition. For the 5th time in 11 seasons two club teams reached the final of this competition. In that same period (and bearing in mind 2 seasons were lost through covid) the club has won this trophy an amazing 7 times! The winning captain this year was Colin Turner, lifting the trophy for the second consecutive season. Brilliant.
And the season ended with several of our members taking part in the Liverpool Closed Championships. 1st team captain, Dermot Tierney reached the final of the Vets Singles, Sam Pierce from the A Team reached the final of the Open Doubles with his partner Connor Whitehead, and 11-year-old Ronan Tierney won the Div 5 open singles (and reached the semi-finals of the U15 singles)! These results for Ronan helped seal him the award at the recent League AGM of the ‘Most Improved Player’ in Div 5 of the LDTTL.
Also, at the League AGM, Club Secretary, Graham Turner was, to his great surprise, awarded with the Ken Armson trophy by the League. This trophy, which is only presented occasionally, gives recognition to the tremendous progress that the Club has made in recent years.
We now start preparing for the next season.
Over the year we have continued to advertise the club through social media (with over 50 posts to Facebook since 1 Jan 2024 alone, where we have over 300 regular followers) and with our permanent website – where we post club info, news stories, league match results and occasional articles (blog). We have around 3,500 views of our website every year. It would be great to see all club members regularly engaging with our electronic media (all can contribute or comment). We have two journalists who have written articles about the club, and we advertised the ITTF World Table Tennis Day. Our media alone could be a full-time job for someone!
All in all, it has been a very full year, in keeping with a healthy, progressive club. Once again, I commend the club to you, and thank you all for your continuing support of the club and our management team. I am fairly sure that we have more challenges to face yet, but I am confident that with your help and support we shall continue to thrive.
Treasurer's Report
Audited accounts for the year to 30 April 2024 were presented to the Club AGM and approved by it. The Treasurer's full report on those accounts can be found in the Minutes of the AGM, and a copy of the accounts can be obtained from the Club Secretary. The accounts show a surplus for the year of £187 after the addition of a further £2,500 to the property fund. The Treasurer was pleased to say that, despite rising costs, especially rent and electricity charges, the club is in a sound financial state, so that he was able to recommend no increase in fees for the forthcoming year.
Ian Brownrigg
Ron Georgeson Memorial Trophy
The 2023 Club Tournament was held at Anfield Sports & Community Centre on Saturday, 16 September 2023. The tournament was completed on the day, and also included a Junior Singles event. It was a great day of table tennis. A full report can be found under News Stories. The winners were:
Ron Georgeson Trophy:
Winner: Julian Quirk
Runner-Up: Graham Turner
Singles Plate:
Winner: Marcin Bytnar
Runner-Up: Dave McMahon
Fun Doubles
Winners: Keith Dudley & Shamal Harave
Runners-Up: Mark Evans & Billy Smith
Junior Singles
Winner: Scott French
Runner-up: Shamal Harave
Liverpool & District Table Tennis League - 2023/24 Season
Without a shadow of doubt, 2023/24 was one of the busiest seasons of league table tennis the club has ever had! The Club entered 11 teams into the League for the 2023/24 season, which included 3 junior teams. This meant that every weekday evening was taken up by league match play over the season, and two of the junior teams had to play their matches elsewhere, fortunately for this season we were able to use Anfield Sports & Community Centre for that as part of the regular Monday evening table tennis session there. We also took part in the respective Divisional trophies, and in addition the Club entered 6 teams into the Frank Murphy Memorial Trophy (the Veterans Handicap Cup). Most divisions consisted of 10 or 11 teams and there were 5 divisions. A report on each team is below.
TEAM REPORTS
1st Team (Div 1)
Members: Dermot Tierney (Cap't), Clare Peers, Keith Williams & Steve Green
Position in Div P W L SF SA Pts
5 18 8 7 87 93 87
Captain Dermot reports, the team started the season without top player, Keith Williams, for the first half. Luckily, Steve Green was back and available for the team. Therefore, the regular line-up for this season was Dermot, Clare and Steve with Keith returning after Christmas. We finished 5th in the Division in a comfortable mid table position. Overall, Dermot, Clare and Steve slightly underperformed I feel but remained competitive throughout. It's impressive in and of itself that this team has been among the league's most reliable line-ups for a number of years now. Highlights for the season were; Clare’s outstanding win against JLR's Joe Killoran, 'A' team member, Lawrence Kenwright’s win against Rhys Davies when playing up as a sub, and 11-year-old Ronan Tierney (Div. 5) playing up, and having a match point in a Div 1 game, but eventually losing in the 5th. In the Cup the 1st team made it to the semi-finals but eventually lost to a strong Crosby High side who went on to win the cup.
A Team (Div 1)
Members: Colin Turner (Cap't), Matthew Wilson, Sam Pierce, & Lawrence Kenwright.
Position in Div P W L SF SA Pts
3 18 11 6 113 67 113
Looking to go better than our 7th place finish last season, we began with 2 of the favourites for the division in the first 3 matches (Police & Crosby High) both 8-2 defeats but sandwiched in between was a great 10-0 win against Liverpool YM. We then went on a 6-match unbeaten run collecting 51 points, only losing 9 points, some great table tennis was played by the whole team with some big scalps taken. At the halfway stage we had matched the previous seasons total. This gave us a little breathing space and a shot at an unheard-of 2nd place. Our last 6 matches presented us with a few obstacles, Matty getting injured and Sam’s work commitments, but a great all-round team effort saw us pick up a further 38 points. We ended the season with a great match against our 1st team where the honours were shared 5-5 even though the ‘A’ team only had 2 players! As a captain I couldn’t be prouder of our team’s efforts this year and all our hard work paid off as we ended the season on 3rd place with 113 points only 9 points behind 2nd placed Jaguar Land Rover. Team performance of the season was against Jaguar Land Rover in their home patch, we ran out winning 9-1, an amazing result and well deserved with great table tennis being played.
In the Frank Murphy Cup our ‘A’ team, minus Sam who didn’t qualify on age grounds, played as BSM 4. Each round proved very challenging for us as we started every match 100’s of points down. Some very good and controlled table tennis saw us progress to the semi-final where we played Merseyside Police, themselves fielding a very strong team. We managed to overcome them and went through to the final with a 324 to 307 victory. In the final we met with another Bath St team comprising of Keith Williams, Steve Green and Julian Quirk, what a match it was! Two very evenly matched teams with the winners not decided until the last set, where BSM 4 ran out winners. This was also a little historic moment as captain Colin Turner had now won this tournament 3 years on the run.
Bath Street ‘A’ Table Tennis team are eagerly waiting for the start of next season to see if we can go one better.
B Team (Div 2)
Members: Barry Davis (Cap't), Julian Quirk, Mal Kent and Colin Mitchell
Position in Div P W L SF SA Pts
4 16 9 4 92 68 92
Captain, Barry Davis reports; the team consisting of Julian Quirk, Colin Mitchell, Mal Kent and I finished in a respectable 4th place on 92 points. We had a squad of four players from the start of the season who all wanted to play regularly. I therefore rotated the players throughout the season in such a way that they would get an equal number of games. This meant there were long spells when players did not play which was not helped by a team withdrawing from the division just after it commenced.
Julian had an average of 89.66% losing just 3 games out of 29. He was well supported by the rest of the team. A highlight for me was in reversing an earlier defeat to Peter Findlater 3-1 at Harold House.
The highlight for Mal was beating an improving Michael Evans from Wavertree Labour after being 2 sets down and winning 12-10 down in the fifth.
The highlight for Colin was a 3-0 win against Andrew Legge from Crosby High.
My highlights were a win and a loss to Matty Cranney both 5 setters. We always seem to have good tussles.
We were short on a few occasions during the season due to clashes with another league. I'd like to thank Keith Dudley and Kenny Jackson, facilitated by Dave Stoddern, for their help this season. It is much appreciated.
C Team (Div 2)
Members: Dave Stoddern (Cap't), Ken Jackson, Dave McMahon, & Dave Noden.
Position in Div P W L SF SA Pts
8 16 4 12 51 109 51
What a start and what a first couple of weeks; as, with our usual 4, we won our first two matches!! Unfortunately, Ken then had to go to America for 4 months and we were back to the three. This division is a difficult, but great, division with every team capable of being up there at the top. It was not for the want of trying, judging by the number of close games we all lost from winning positions, but it is a division that takes no prisoners! We wouldn’t have had it any other way. We had a few heavy defeats with the odd, good wins from Dave N & Dave Mc, and we always had a chance in the doubles, which we seem to play well in. We had an early end to the first half of the season as we had three free weeks all one after the other. So, come the new year with Ken was back to boost us, it had an immediate effect with a good win against Harold House with all of us contributing. The second half of the season was much better with many close matches going 6-4 against us. We ended up second from bottom, but it looks like it may be enough to stay in the division next season. One thing is for sure, something needs to change with the structure of the divisions as we ended up having six free weeks due to the lack of teams in the division. Working on a rota system, some of us would have no game for 3 or 4 weeks, which certainly doesn’t help when you are struggling. On a brighter note, Ken did have one of the top averages in the division, but it seems that it goes on games won nowadays! I would like to express my thanks to Ken, Dave N & Dave Mc for sticking at it and also to Keith Dudley for helping us out in the last match.
Below, the members of the 1st Team: Keith Williams, Dermot Tierney, Steve Green & Clare Peers. With such a strong squad it was unfortunate that they needed to use subs.
Below, the A team of Sam Pierce, Matt Wilson, Colin Turner & Lawrence Kenwright - who was awarded as the most improved player in Div 1. Followed by Colin receiving the Frank Murphy Cup from Mrs Murphy, and below that all the players from the Vets Cup Final.
The new look B Team. Colin Mitchell, Mal Kent, Barry Davis & Julian Quirk. The addition of Julian to the team added real strength lifting the team closer to the promotion spots - not necessarily a place they want to be!
Below, the C Team. The only unchanged team from last season? Captain Dave Stoddern, on the right, is though the longest serving continuous team captain in the club now we believe. He is seen here with his regular team mates, Ken Jackson, Dave McMahon & Dave Noden. The loss of Ken for a period in a division with just 9 teams meant the team finished 2nd to bottom, and will now have to wait and see if they can retain their place in Div 2.
D Team (Div 3)
Members: James Haskell, Kieron Sumner, Amir Norouzi
Position in Div P W L SF SA Pts
10 20 3 15 61 139 61
The original intention was that this would be a new team consisting of players transferring to the club from the former Bootle YMCA club. But things didn't get off to a good start when, just a week before the start of the season, the expected team captain went missing, and did not join the club or any other. We were however fortunate to gain Amir, extending his playing interest into the Liverpool League for the first time. Players from the 4th division teams stepped up to test themselves at this higher level, but having a constantly changing and unsettled team, without a captain was far from the perfect start! Kieron became the backbone of the team, and when he played regularly picked up two or three wins. This left a lot of pressure on the various substitutes to try and support him. They did their best but not playing regularly at this higher level meant that wins were often hard to come by. The team struggled through the first half of the season but in the New Year James Haskell agreed to move up and took over the leadership of the team. At last they had a regular three. Subs were still needed to cover absences but a more settled team meant the team started to pick up points. The team worked really hard, but in the end didn't quite get the results needed finishing second from bottom. It remains to be seen whether this team will retain a place in Div 3, hopefully it will and next time round we can improve right from the start to ensure the team stays at this level. Nevertheless, it did provide opportunities for a number of players from lower divisions to get a taste of life at a higher level.
E Team (Div 4)
Members: Andrew Armstrong (Cap't), Steve Rees, Keith Dudley & Dave Aimson.
Position in Div P W L SF SA Pts
6 18 7 7 84 96 84
The team started the season with quite high hopes. But significant injuries for both captain Andrew and new team member, Dave, effectively ended any aspirations the team might have held. Fortunately Brian Crolley and others were able to support the team through this difficult period. Once both Andrew and Dave were back playing improvements followed. A good run in the Divisional Cup led to the team reaching the semi-final. Here they faced the juniors of Crosby High. Somehow this match didn't quite go to plan and the juniors ran away with the match securing a place in the final. In fact this sums up the season, one that promised much, but which in the end didn't quite go to plan! Nevertheless the team finished mid-table a good effort in all the circumstances.
F Team (Div 5)
Members: Peter Crichton (Cap't), Mark Benson, Marcin Bytnar, Harry Hobson, and Brian Crolley.
Position in Div P W L SF SA Pts
3 18 10 5 102 78 102
Effectively a new team our squad finished the season in a commendable third place.
To quickly summarise, Maghull C eventually won the division and it became a season long battle between ourselves and a very strong Maghull E squad for the runners up position. The season started well with a 6-4 win at Arriva. Unfortunately, several days later, we lost our number 1 ranked player Mark Benson due to a major health issue. It turned out to be January 2024 before Mark would return to play. As we all had to 'play up', the evergreen and ever-reliable Brian Crolley stepped in to play regularly at 4 in our team. The team showed great spirit and cohesiveness resulting in 6 wins and just 2 defeats up to the Christmas/New Year break. We were knocked out of the divisional cup by our colleagues in the E team. At the turn of the year, we sat proudly in 2nd place.
Our first match of 2024 saw the return of our number 1 (Mark Benson), and a resounding 9-1 home win against Arriva! However, a 3 match 'winless' run followed before rallying once again as we played 5 matches without defeat during Feb/March. With 2 matches remaining, it looked inevitable that Maghull C would win the division. It was just a case of whether ourselves or Maghull E would clinch second place. Unfortunately, it turned out to be success for the Maghull team, as we suffered two 8-2 defeats to Crosby juniors and Maghull E. This left us in 3rd place. It was however a great effort by an untested squad.
As team captain, I would like to thank everyone for their commitment, enthusiasm and reliability. Also a thank you to Scott French, James Haskell and Graham Turner for playing (and contributing) when we were short of squad members.
G Team (Div 4)
Members: James Haskell (Cap't), Henry Sinker, Ivan Maksym, Scott French.
Position in Div P W L SF SA Pts
7 18 5 10 84 96 84
Parent, and top spectator, Andrew Sinker reports. When September rolled in so did another season for the Bath Street Marine G Junior Team. After being promoted to Division 4 following the 2021 to 2022 season, and narrowly avoiding relegation last year, the team were hopeful of better results. All players were more experienced and had valuable match experience behind them. It soon became apparent the team were able to compete much better this year with most games and matches being competitive and hard fought.
In the first part of the season the team was Captained by James, who provided valuable guidance, support and encouragement to the Juniors. There were then a number of occasions, when there was no adult playing and the Juniors had to sort the playing order and doubles pairing out. Wins and draws seemed to happen much more regularly and even in the matches that were lost they were often by close margins.
There was a genuine feeling in the team they could win any of their matches and players in the better teams had to be at the top of their game to beat any of the Juniors. There was one other Junior team in the league, but apart from this match, they invariably played against adults of all ages and experience.
At the end of the season the team finished in a credible 7th place with 5 wins, 3 draws and 10 losses. This was higher than last year and comfortably clear of relegation. If the same progress is made next season the team should do even better.
It was always a pleasure to watch them playing and a big thank you to James, Graham and Andrew for their help and encouragement. Roll on the 2024-2025 season.
H Team (Div 5)
Members: Keith Hardman (Cap't), Steve McCormick, Richard Woodley, Bobby Vint, Alan Hale, Stuart Reid, Sue Young, Bernard Cooney, Ian Brownrigg, Tony Mitchell, and Stephen Riley.
Position in Div P W L SF SA Pts
8 20 6 11 80 120 80
Captain Keith reports. "Another season comes to a close, as with many of our teams this season we have lost good players through injury, holidays, and other absences, but what keeps me going and to want to Captain a team is enthusiasm. Our squad of players can be proud of their achievement this season. First, for getting a better points total than the past seasons. Second, everyone who has stood in to replace someone who couldn’t make a match did so with fine performances. Perhaps the highlight was reaching the semi-final of the Div 5 Divisional Cup, but playing against the divisions top team we couldn't make it to the final! If asked to pick a player of the season, I couldn’t, because everyone played 100%. I’d like to thank all the players in the H Team squad for their commitment, effort and enthusiasm. Every match was played competitively and in the right spirit. Some great evenings of table tennis". It is never easy to manage a large squad of players, but once again Captain Keith, who was not able to play at all this season, has done a fantastic job.
I Team (Div 5)
Members: Graham Turner (Cap't), Seb Rice, Ronan Tierney, Will Rice, Kai Morgan, Shamal Harave, Eva Abernethy.
Position in Div P W L SF SA Pts
3 20 16 1 147 53 147
This new team were delighted to have the support of grandparent, Mike Taylor over the season. Mike attended just about every match – and has become a very accomplished umpire and scorer! Mike provides this report. The team had a large squad, but the most frequent players were, Kai, Ronan, Shamal, Will and the ever-present Graham; backed up by Myles, Keshav and Ellis. This team of youngsters, and of course the heart of the team Graham, finished in an incredible and quite unexpected third place with 146pts.
Singling out any one of these incredible table tennis players would be an injustice to the team as each player had an excellent season performing well against some very talented and experienced opposition with varying styles of play - they all coped admirably. None of these youngsters had ever competed in a league situation prior to 2023 yet their performance was exceptional. The top two teams in the league could not beat this set of players. The team in second place could only manage a total of 7 pts out of 20 against them.
This team of players were a credit to the club in both their attitude towards the game and the polite way they went about their business - it was a joy to behold. Quite often it was reported to me by the opposition what a joy it was to see such young talented players - except of course for the effervescent Graham - playing with enthusiasm and enjoying their sport.
I feel I must add one more note of praise for Graham. He was always present and on hand to give his expert advice, his praise and encouragement for the players and his full support.
J Team (Div 5)
Members: Steve Gittins (Cap't - non-playing), Eddie Thurgood, Charlie King, Harry Wright, Isaac Richman, Ezra Stephan-Whiteford, Myles Ambrose, Hayden Thompson, Keshav Harave, Ellis Haskell, James Gillbanks, Jaylen Huang, Dylan Hoare, and Elis Thomas.
Position in Div P W L SF SA Pts
11 20 0 20 23 177 23
This was a completely new team consisting of boys who attend junior coaching at Anfield but playing under the club banner as there is no ‘club structure’ at Anfield. None of this group had any competitive league experience at the start of the season. There is no doubt they found life in the league very tough indeed! Encouraged throughout by coach Steve Gittins the team fought as hard as they could against often very experienced adult players. It wasn’t until the sixth match of the season that the team were able to pick up their first points. After that they continued to pick up the odd point or two but were not quite able to turn that into a match winning score. 12-year-old Jaylen Huang, with a slightly unconventional, but nevertheless effective, style proved the most successful player having the advantage of playing lower down the order. But Eddie Thurgood and Charlie King, playing at the top of the order, also picked up some very valuable points. It was a hard learning curve for the team, but hopefully the progress made can continue into the next season – providing we can find a suitable venue for them to play from! This season the team may have propped up the League but keep your eyes on them next season as they look to build on their experience.
It proved to be a really tough season for the D Team. Kieron was outstanding when he played, Amir came in new to the Liverpool League untested at this level. James generously stepped up a level to take on the team management and gradually got himself back up to the right level.
What a season for this new team! Despite loosing their No.1, Mark, for around 2 months, they fought for an incredible third place with the help of the effervescent, 87 year old Brian Crolley as super sub, an amazing contribution.
With James taking over the captaincy there was a new and vibrant look to the team and this shone through in the way they played. When James moved up to captain the 3rd Div team it had an impact but strong substitutes especially from amongst the improving juniors kept the momentum enabling the team to finish mid-table.
Last seasons F & G Teams became 1 team this year, H, under the captaincy of Keith. The enlarged squad making management tougher. But the team had a great season and were competitive in every match.
The Juniors who played in the I Team really surpassed themselves with their performances in this first full season as a new team. Everyone of them contributed to the team results.
Who is who?
And to finish with here is a mini picture quiz for you!
See if you can answer these ???
Which player captained two teams over the 2023/24 season?
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Which junior, playing their first full season of league table tennis, was awarded with a 'most improved player' in their division award by the LDTTL?
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Which team captain once again lifted the Frank Murphy cup?
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And last ?
Which senior statesman of table tennis once again played another full season of league
table tennis aged 87 helping two teams to very good results in Div 4?
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