Banbury & District

Table Tennis Association

North Newington BCSGraded Junior Championship 11.5.17

Supported by Eric Barlow licensed TTE coach

Contact: eric.barlow@outlook.com

North Newington BCS TTCFurther details contact

Julian WoodwardTel no. 738167

julian@woowar.com

Learn to play table tennis at North Newington TT Club

North Newington BCS Junior Graded Tournament 11.5.17 Banbury & District

Table Tennis Association

Our juniors in the North Newington BCS squad have been playing for 1-2 years now and each week they attend

various coaching sessions including the BGN Academy. Progress has be incremental and supplemented

recently by participation in matches and tournaments. As coach it’s interesting to witness players in competition

to determine medium/long term development needs. Player status is roughly proportional how much they’ve put

in recently - the amount of player table time and application during training.

Last Thursday the players put on a tremendous display of table tennis at the North Newington BCS graded

junior championship – they looked great in their new team kit. Most of our squad, 16 players participated. Split

into two grades roughly according to ‘ability’. Qualification to semi’s was via groups played on a league basis.

Although Grade B matches were at the other end of the room from me, I still noticed some thrilling close

matches and the beginners group are now looking like real table tennis players. Etain won a match which was

great! Was impressed with Josh’s top spins, Nicholas’s consistency and Marcus’s mental strength. Both Josh

and Nicholas pushed Marcus to the limit but it was Marcus’s mental toughness and tactical acumen that in the

end proved critical to help him take the Grade B title – richly deserved.

The Fyfe twins dominated the Grade A section with George beating Archie in the final. Will Brown has only been

playing 9 months but reached the semi’s and took a set off Archie in the groups. With all due respect Henry

Church probably achieved better than expected and also got to the semi’s. This was achieved by his superior

serving technique – the best in our squad – using a range of short spin serves.

Parents just remember table tennis is not just about our elite players that win championships. In this sport

there’s scope to compete at all levels and I’m mindful that I’d like to develop all of our squad to achieve their full

potential. As a group though they need to buckle down more, focus and not get distracted.

North Newington BCS Junior Graded Tournament 11.5.17 Banbury & District

Table Tennis Association

From left to right• Grade A: Archie Fyfe (r/up), George Fyfe (winner) Grade B: Marcus Holden (winner), Nicholas Walker (r/up)

North Newington BCS Junior Graded Tournament 11.5.17 Banbury & District

Table Tennis Association

North Newington BCS Junior Graded Tournament 11.5.17 Banbury & District

Table Tennis Association

North Newington BCS Junior Tournament 11.5.17 Banbury & District

Table Tennis Association

North Newington BCS Junior Tournament 11.5.17 Banbury & District

Table Tennis Association

Banbury & District

Table Tennis Association

North Newington BCS New Team Kit Banbury & District

Table Tennis Association

North Newington BCS Table Tennis – new team kit thanks to the school plus generous sponsorship from Banbury Round Table and Glazpart

Banbury & District

Table Tennis AssociationThe table tennis club and its players would like to thank very much the school, its sponsors Banbury Round Table and Glazpart for their recent very generous financial support which has enabled us to purchase our very distinctive club team shirts and shorts. Greatly appreciated!!

Table tennis is a fast explosive sport combined with skilful deft touches, spins and is particularly appealing to some youngsters that often shun team games. The sport can be played competitively or ‘just for fun’ and is suitable for all ages and levels of ability. During the last three years Banbury Table Tennis association has been heavily involved locally with a coaching development project with the aim to significantly increasing TT participation and help grow the Banbury League. The establishment of BCS NN community table tennis club is just one element of this larger scheme and by very good cooperation between school and villagers, so far we've been very successful. We now run three junior coaching sessions: After school clubs on Thursdays – ‘improvers’ 3-4.30 and beginners 4.30 – 5.30 plus junior club 6.30 - 8pm on Wednesday. Adults meet 8-9.30 pm Wednesdays.

North Newington BCS was started ~2 years ago and the village and school raised sufficient funds to buy a range of TT equipment including a couple of brand new tables. In the first year an ‘adults learn to play’ scheme resulted in the formation of a village team playing in the Banbury League. ~ 20 adults from the village now participate in playing table tennis. On Thursdays in the school we introduced TT in a fun and enjoyable way to years 5 and 6 at the after school club and this also led to the creation of a junior section on Wednesday evenings, and is linked closely to our community TT club. Through continued improvement our ultimate aim is for these young players to progress into the adult BCS NN section and represent the village in the local league. If they work hard then perhaps in the future they can also represent Banbury and Oxfordshire. We now have 18 committed junior squad players regularly involved with table tennis.

Clearly from a coaching viewpoint our aim is to improve and motivate players but we also need to create pathways for junior development to facilitate retention and continued involvement in this healthy sport. We’ve got a range of abilities but quite a lot of our players have now also progressed to BGN League Coaching Academy. As our juniors continue to progress from participation into ‘performance’ standard we encourage players to enter local competitions- they’ll learn a lot from this. Our players have recently taken part in Oxfordshire Schools U13, Banbury U13, Lillington (Warwick), North Newington and BGN Academy graded tournaments. Our junior teams have had friendly matches against Lillington, Bishop Loveday School and Bloxham.

It’s just fantastic now that the players are kitted out in their new shirts and shorts emblazoned with our team name plus sponsors. It helps create a strong team identity and is greatly admired by players and supporters of other teams. Thank you sponsors once again for you generous support!!

Table tennis club Chairman, Julian Woodward says ‘ it’s just brilliant that a small village like North Newington has established such a thriving table tennis club in the school and the community. Through the hard work and support of some committed villagers plus external funding we now have a club that we can be proud of. Let’s keep it going forward!’