|
FEB 2005--LATEST CHANGES AT DML WOOLWELL
A summary of the main features is
No more Friday practice sessions - those already publicised for 11th and 25th Feb are cancelled.
Club championships
Teams event on Sunday 20th Feb from 6pm
Beginners, under 11 & handicap events on Sunday 6th March from 4.30pm
Open, doubles, mixed doubles & ladies on Wednesday 9th March from 6pm
Under 14 & Under 18 on Saturday 30th April from 10am
24 Hour Marathon from Saturday morning 30th April to Sunday morning 1st May - Club presentation evening on the Saturday
Wednesday evening coaching sessions from 6pm to start from 27th April
Otherwise Sunday sessions to continue as now (except Easter day)
The Friday evening coaching sessions have been poorly supported & are losing the club money so I have decided to cancel the remaining ones. Fridays 4th & 18th Feb and 11th March are booked for Plymouth League. There will be no further Friday evening sessions for the foreseeable future.
Our club championships are in their sixth year & we will be holding the same eleven events as last season, although every year it becomes more and more difficult to fit them in to a very crowded table tennis schedule. This is why they are rather scattered around the next three months!
Every event has a perpetual trophy and permanent trophies are awarded to all winners and runners-up.
We want as strong an entry as possible this year but don't be put off if you are not quite up with our best players. We will use preliminary rounds and byes to ensure that everyone gets plenty of matches at their own level so we want all standards involved.
The first event will be the teams (of three) event on 20th Feb starting at 6pm. The 4.30 to 6 coaching session will go ahead as usual. As this competition will replace a normal club session I will take entries on the night but please be prompt. I recommend that you arrange teammates in advance but we will team up remaining players on the day & no one will be left out.
The cost will be £2 per player but this will be reduced to 50p per player for those who have pre-paid for Sunday sessions.
As usual there will be first and second division competitions. To qualify for the second division, the total club ranking points after Sunday 6th Feb of the three team members must not exceed 6,000 points. No team will be knocked out and each team will play at least three matches.
Sunday 27th Feb will be a normal club evening. The club championship events on Sunday 6th March will replace both the coaching and ranking sessions. Again entries will be accepted on the day.
The beginners event is open to all those under 15 who started table tennis this season plus any others of a suitable standard at the discretion of the organisers. It will start at 4.30pm.
Entrants for the under 11 event should also be ready to play at 4.30. We will also play some groups of the handicap event from 4.30 but will also cater for all those who arrive by 6.15pm. This event is planned to finish at around 8.30pm.
The cost for all players will be £2 per event except that those qualifying for, and playing in, the beginner's event can enter a second event free of charge.
The handicap event is suitable for everyone. The handicaps are based on club rankings with the intention that our weaker players have just as much chance of winning as the strongest!
Final details of the open, ladies and two doubles events will follow but these will start at 6pm and finish at around 10.30pm on Wednesday 9th March. The under 14 and under 18 events will be played concurrently with the tournament at our 24-hour marathon on Saturday 30th April.
Last summer's Wednesday evening coaching sessions were an outstanding success due to the high level of commitment and ability of the coaches, the high ratio of coaches to players (more than 1 to 3) and the excellent attitude of the players. We will be repeating these this year and they are likely to prove very popular. Final details are yet to be ironed out but they will
cater for all standards
run from 27th April for approximately twelve weeks
only be bookable in advance for the whole period
start at 6pm and finish around 9.30pm, although they may be split into two separate sessions
require a high level of commitment and behaviour from all players.
Due to popular demand we are yet again running a 24-hour marathon from Saturday morning 30th April to Sunday morning 1st May. The format will be similar to previous years - a serious competition for all standards during the day on Saturday followed by the club's annual presentations at around 5pm. A fun event in the evening then sleep or play all night in the Woolwell Centre until breakfast and home at around 9am on Sunday. This is our main fundraising event of the season as we ask all participants to get themselves sponsored. Now we are a Community Amateur Sports Club we can benefit from gift aided donations.
All the above events have been run before. If you are a relative newcomer then please ask me or any of our long-term members for further details.
SEPTEMBER 2004--SUNDAY SESSIONS
Sessions will continue right through the season in the usual format.
The cost will remain £2 per session but you will be able to block book Sunday sessions as follows
Until Christmas £20
Until end of February £30
(after which our Club Championships will start)
Second (and further) players from the same family half the above price.
The earlier you block book the more you will save!
Monthly awards will recommence with an August/September award starting on August 15th. For those who don't know, these go to the player who increases their ranking point total by the largest number in the month & are awarded at our Annual Presentation evening in May.
NEW CLUB KIT
Woolwell TTC introduced its first club kit in 2001. This was supplemented in 2003 by a limited supply of a lower quality, much cheaper set of shirts obtained during the Smith family's visit to Indonesia.
With the help of our club sponsors, DML Sports & Social Club, and William Thornton of Thorntons Sport & Leisure, we aim to offer a brand new, affordable but very high quality club kit consisting of shirt, shorts & track suit, when we come back in mid-August from our summer break.
We will ensure that the kit is
1 of sufficient quality that our best players will be proud to wear it at the top level
2 a brand new design which will be fully available for at least two years during which no further new kit will be introduced
3 as affordable as possible for all club members - DML will arrange the printing free of charge, Thorntons have offered us a big discount & the club will provide a further subsidy
so that as many people as possible buy at least part of the kit & feel even more a part of the club.
We are also extremely grateful to Thorntons for offering big discounts off their catalogue prices on other goods. Club members will get
50% off Stiga clothing
30% off other Stiga goods
20% off all other catalogue items. The 2004/05 catalogue will be available very shortly but these prices can only be obtained by DML Woolwell TTC members through the club.
ARRANGEMENTS FOR 2004/05
THE CLUB WILL BE CLOSED FOR A SUMMER BREAK FROM JULY 25th to AUGUST 11th INCLUSIVE.
THE FINAL SUNDAY SESSION BEFORE OUR BREAK WILL BE ON JULY 18th. SESSIONS WILL RESTART IN THE SAME FORMAT ON SUNDAY 15th AUGUST AND CONTINUE THROUGH TO CHRISTMAS.
THE FINAL WEDNESDAY ELITE & INTERMEDIATE COACHING SESSION THIS TERM WILL BE ON JULY 21st. A FURTHER FIVE WEEKS OF SESSIONS WILL RUN FROM 18th AUGUST TO 15th SEPTEMBER INCLUSIVE. THESE WILL AGAIN ONLY BE OPEN TO THOSE WHO PRE-BOOK FOR THE WHOLE PERIOD. THE COST IS £20 FOR THE TOP GROUP & £14 FOR THE SECOND GROUP. PRIORITY WILL BE GIVEN TO THOSE CURRENTLY ATTENDING BUT ANYBODY ELSE WHO WOULD LIKE TO BE TAKE PART SHOULD CONTACT JOHN SMITH ON 695158 OR wttc@tesco.net
VACANCIES WILL BE FILLED ON A FIRST COME, FIRST SERVED BASIS
OUR PREVIOUS TUESDAY EVENING WINTER SESSIONS WILL NOT CONTINUE. IF WE NEED TO EXPAND OUR ACTIVITIES DUE TO DEMAND THEN SUNDAY AFTERNOONS ARE USUALLY AVAILABLE AT THE WOOLWELL CENTRE AND MAY BE OUR FIRST CHOICE.
Friday sessions from 7pm to 9.30pm will be held on September 10th & 17th. These will be introductory sessions for newcomers and general practice sessions for club members.
From 22 September, because Plymouth League matches will be played at Woolwell every other Wednesday and (in the alternate week) every other Friday, the club timetable will work on a two-week plan as follows:-
WEEK ONE (Commencing 20 Sept 2004)
WEDNESDAY 6pm to 10.30pm PLYMOUTH LEAGUE
FRIDAY 7pm to 9pm BEGINNERS/INTERMEDIATE COACHING*
SUNDAY 6pm to 8.30pm RANKING LIST COMPETITION
WEEK TWO (Commencing 27 Sept 2004)
WEDNESDAY 6pm to 7.30pm BEGINNERS COACHING*
WEDNESDAY 7.30pm to 9pm OPEN PRACTICE SESSION
FRIDAY 7pm to 10.30pm PLYMOUTH LEAGUE
SUNDAY 6pm to 8.30pm RANKING LIST COMPETITION
*IF THESE SESSIONS ARE NOT FULLY BOOKED FOR COACHING THEN THEY WILL ALSO BE OPENED UP FOR GENERAL PRACTICE.
April 2004 A two and a half hour coaching session, running for 12 weeks starting the last week in April, on Wednesday evenings at the Woolwell Centre, with two groups of eight, from 6.30 to 9 will now definitely go ahead. The top group will be supervised by Paul Whiting (who, for those who don't already know, is the top player in Devon, number two ranked veteran (over 40) in England and an excellent fully qualified coach) & at least one other coach. It is by invitation only & those invited are not necessarily the best players, but those with the greatest potential. The other group is open to all ages & abilities but if there is too much demand then priority will be given to youngsters & regular Woolwell members. Again there will be two or more coaches with at least one fully qualified. Both groups are now full.
Eighteen players have block booked for the whole 12 weeks (with the possibility of refunds for missed weeks if replacements can be found). The cost is £60 for the top group and £40 for the other group.
The aim is to provide a really top quality coaching session for all concerned.
March 2004 Some of the following is likely but not definite, some is mere hopes for the future but I am convinced that the planned moves can do nothing but provide huge benefits to all current members who want the opportunity to improve their game and see a thriving club. Remember it is all in the planning stage, nothing is definite & any comments would be welcome
improvements to the Woolwell Centre Main Hall lighting to enable Plymouth League matches and high level tournaments to be played there (some minor improvements will take place over Easter--we will see if the results create sufficient improvement before raising any new proposals)
most (not necessarily all - the option to remain at HQ will remain open) Woolwell teams playing home Plymouth League matches at the Woolwell Centre on Wednesday or Friday evenings
the players comprising the top two teams in Division One (China Fleet A & B - basically most of the best players in Devon) joining Woolwell, playing Plymouth League at Woolwell and incorporating some of our top youngsters into their teams
Sunday's current session to remain
improving the social aspects of our club by opening the kitchen on Plymouth League match nights & possibly Sundays, encouraging spectators & possibly purely social club events
long term the possibility exists of structured coaching sessions on the Fridays and/or Wednesdays not being used for Plymouth League and/or Sunday before or after our competitive session. These may be run by our own qualified coaches with hopefully some input from the former China Fleet players as they become more integrated into the club. Other possibilities are "elite" & general practice sessions.
Woolwell would then have the best players both Senior and Junior in the South West and the aim is to make it the Region's leading club, without in any way ignoring those players who just want to come & have a game, whatever their standard. They are a vital part of the club. The possibilities exist of entering Woolwell teams in all the Senior & Junior national events & holding major junior events at the Woolwell Centre.
|
|
