Monday 8th November 2004
President's Report / Secretary's Report
President's
Report
As I reflect on the past twelve months, I believe we had a good year. Our
membership has remained stable, which is not a bad effort these days. We
continue to deliver a range of table tennis services and are constantly looking
at ways to improve the delivery of these services, seeking player input as
always being welcome.
Despite various strategies and the effort of numerous members, the Association struggles to attract juniors to our beloved sport. This of course is of real concern, as the ongoing health of our sport relies heavily on an injection of juniors. In 2005, it is proposed to introduce a school competition adopting hopefully a slightly different and more attractive approach, may be this might be effective.
As a building improvement, and in providing comfort to the membership, the new air-conditioning unit has already been used by our Social players, taking the sting out of a hot Tuesday morning session. Hopefully this improvement to our complex will attract more persons to play in the STTA Summer Competition, so please, put in your entry forms for the 2005 Summer Comp.
The cost off the air-conditioning depleted our finances somewhat, but fortunately we have been able to recover in part due to various forms of grant / funding assistance and astute financial planning.
In closing, to the membership, your continued support is essential and appreciated. To the STTA Committee and volunteers, a big thankyou to for all your efforts and a job well done.
Jo Storken
President, STTA
It seems there is always plenty to do in table tennis, no
matter what capacity you elect to pursue. The 2003 / 2004 operational period has
been no different. In an ideal world it would be nice to have at least one full
time administrator, both at State and Association level….dream on Maurice.
In the absence of nominations at an AGM for any of the 5 key positions on the STTA Executive, constitutional provision exists for the previous incumbents to remain in office. This has indeed proved to be the case in respect to all key positions for the last few years. Certainly succession management is a worry, and I am sure like myself, several others are keen to hand the reigns of ‘office bearer’ to a younger enthusiastic member. Again unfortunately it is a case of…..dream on Maurice.
While in many respects the Association has been plodding on as usual, a few new and exciting things have occurred. To capture the year in bullet form, again I fall back on Bev’s newsletters, a key communication tool between the Association and the membership:-
Ø STTA Web Site & Quarterly Newsletters – the membership can one way or another keep in contact with local gossip and results, be that through viewing information on the website, receiving email newsletters, or by reading those down the centre isles of the stadium. Once again, well done Bev James. Also thanks to Helen Berry, competition results still regularly appear in the local newspaper.
Ø Individual Achievements – Congratulations to Michelle Hodgson and Dwayne Longbottom for achieving a standard of play warranting their selection in teams to represent Australia at Oceania. Congratulations to various Southern players selected in this year State Teams, be that Youth, Seniors, Juniors or Veterans.
Ø Lightning Carnival & Players Tournament – due to some grades playing a large number of minor round matches in the 2004 Winter Competition, only divisions 2 and 5 participated in a lightning carnival. However, all players had the opportunity of competing in the Players Tournament. This event attracted good numbers, and the events held on the Sunday were also well patronised, with all enjoying a barbecue to complete the day.
Ø Junior Development – as outlined by the President, this is a worrying area of concern. Hopefully we can find a way to encourage school students in to our sport, but a considerable amount of promotion will be required. Meanwhile, Southern is still maintaining a presence in the school environment through Alvan, Rex, Barbara & Jo. School holiday programs continue to be offered during each term break, squad junior coaching and ‘Friday Night Junior Competition’ are ongoing activities.
Ø Teams in TTSA Winter Competition – STTA had 4 teams entered in the TTSA Winter Competition in 2003. Again, thank you to David Longbottom for coordinating this activity and representing STTA on the TTSA winter sub-committee.
Ø Air Conditioning – yes its in and ready for powering up once the heat of the summer hits home. In addition to the $10,000 funding assistance through the Active Club Grant (Minor Works), Southern also received financial assistance from the City of Onkaparinga in the amount of $5,000. This has taken some of the sting off a rather expensive project. I look forward to enjoying the comfort of the stadium over the next 6 months, keeping the heat to the outside of the stadium.
Ø Winter Presentation Function – held once again at the Christies Beach Hotel Motel complex, good food, good company made for another great function.
Ø Other Funding Assistance – Southern has also been fortunate to obtain $1,400 funding assistance through the old Department of Human Services towards a seniors program. More recently $1,550 funding assistance was also received to enable STTA to replace its ancient photocopier.
Ø Friendly Match Against Great Southern – an event which had not been held for a few years, with member Ian Morris co-ordinating things at the Victor Harbor end, held at Southern, it was a great day had by all. Everything points to the event being staged again next year, possibly at Victor.
Ø Player’s Player Award – an idea of Karen Rump’s, and with nomination forms out and round the stadium, the concept has attracted a few interesting nominations in 2004….lets see where this goes in 2005.
Ø Athens Olympics – well it was good to see table tennis gained some television coverage, even if it was SBS we had to turn to watch medal round matches. Although not a Southern member, well done to South Australian team representative William Henzell for making it through the first round of matches in both singles and doubles.
There goes another year. Once again, thank you to all who helped Southern get through it. As it creeps up on us……..best wishes to all for Christmas and the New Year.
Maurice Quinn
Secretary, STTA
Last Updated: 28 Apr 2006 10:52 AM