Participatory Budgeting Success

Decision Day for the Three Towns Participatory Budget event was Saturday 21 st May, with a full day of presentations from a variety of local organisations at the new Saltcoats Town Hall. It was a great day to see how much the community has got to offer in terms of activities for children and the amount of time each voluntary group put in to their cause.

Chairman Ian MacPherson alongside club members Andy Macpherson, Holly McNamara and Martin Johnson delivered a 3 minute presentation on why our project should get funding to everyone in the hall.  After 37 organisations delivered their presentation and voted on who should get funding, we were notified that we would get full funding of our project to support our ongoing activities within North Ayrshire.

Recently, we gratefully received another year of funding from our friends at the Stanley Morrison Trust, for support for basic equipment and for this year’s North Ayrshire Open.

Training Week in Sweden

Chris Main and Martin Johnson travelled to Eslov in Sweden to train on 9 th – 13 th May. Eslov TTC is one of the most successful and prestigious clubs in Europe with many players from all over the world coming to train and play. Peter Sarz (coached Michael Maze to semi finals of the World Championships in China 2005) coached Chris and Martin throughout their 5 days of high quality and intensive training.

Eslov TTC are in of the final of the European Champions League which demonstrates the strength of the team and club. Martin enjoyed being coached my top European coaches and has picked up a lot of technical points which he aims to implement into his training. The week was also useful for Chris as he has learned many new coaching points and perspectives of coaching which he can utilise and take advantage of when it comes to coaching NATTC.

Strong Finish in West Senior League

A busy, successful and enjoyable season for our 4 teams in the West Senior League & 7 teams in the West Junior League. At the recently held WoS AGM on Sunday 22nd May, all trophies, awards and league titles were handed out. North Ayrshire TTC picked up the following titles :

WoS Division 4 Cup : North Ayrshire C – Ryan Henry, Phil Greenham & Conor McAdam.

WoS Division 1 Top Player : Andy Macpherson

WoS U13 Top Player : Martin Johnson

WoS Junior League Division 3 Top Player : Naomi Provan

WoS Junior League Division 2 Winners : Chad Duncan & Patric Hollywood

WoS Junior League Division 3 Winners : Adam Nicol, Holly McNamara & Naomi Provan. 

WoS Junior League Division 1 Runners Up : Robin Wilson, Jamie Johnson & Ryan Henry

NATTC in British Premier League

We are now delighted to confirm that North Ayrshire TTC will be a British Premier League team for the season 2016 – 2017. We will join top British teams Ormesby, Drumchapel, Sycamore, Fusion, BATTS, Cardiff & Halton in the newly restructured British Premier League.

Sean Doherty, Colin Dalgleish, Richard Main, Craig Hardie & Chris Main won Division 1 North with wins over Drumchapel, Ormesby, Rotherham & Barrow on the last weekend and gained entry into the top league in the UK.

This will create 7 matches at Home and 7 matches Away starting August 27th and finishing early March, bringing top International and European players to St Matthews. This is also great news for TT in Scotland as we join Drumchapel in having 2 teams from Scotland competing in this top league of 8.

North Ayrshire’s Division 4 team of Andy MacPherson, Ethan Chapman, Chris Barclay & Martin Johnson finished the season with their best weekend so far, winning 3 matches of their 4 on the last weekend to finish middle table in Division 4. The team will be hoping for promotion next season. North Ayrshire will be entering 2 teams into the Junior British League Qualifier on July 16th with the aim to get a team in one of the JBL Divisions.

Success at National Championships

13 NATTC players competed at this year’s Scottish National Championships which was held at Bells Sports Centre, Perth on April 23rd and 24th.

Saturday

Sunday
Robin

WoS Junior League Winners

British PS Championships Results

Holly & Jamie Johnson both travelled to Guernsey to represent Scotland at the British Primary School Championships 2015. Jamie teamed up with Rayyan Khalid, Rafael Wolowski & Yifie Fang in the boys teams event with Holly competing the girls team event with Holly Stevens, Amelia Smolarek & Charlotte Burridge.

The girls team finished in a creditable 4th place behind England, Ireland & Wales with Holly picking up her first wins in a Scotland jersey against the home team Guernsey & Isle of Man. Jamie and co finished the team event with a Silver medal and finished ahead of arch rivals England and Wales, with only a strong Ireland team running away with the Gold medal. Jamie highlight in the team event was providing 2 wins from his 3 matches against England which played a contributing factor in team Scotland getting a 5-5 draw v England.

In the singles event, Jamie Johnson & Holly both did well and qualified from their groups where they met top ranked players from England & Ireland in the last 16. Both players put up a good showing but Jamie lost to Naphong Boonyaprapa (Eng)  11- 4, 11-6, 11-8 and Holly lost Silke Heinen (Ire) 11-4, 11-6, 11-9.

British PS Championships is always a fantastic weekend for all players and a experience that Holly & Jamie can build on in the future. Both players are still eligible to qualify next year to represent Scotland again and will be aiming to do so. To view pictures and full results from the team events and singles, visit Guernsey TT website www.gtta.org.uk.

Easter Training / Competitions

North Ayrshire Easter Camp
North Ayrshire will run their Easter Training Camp on the 2nd week of the Easter Holidays Tuesday to Thursday, April 12th, 13th & 14th. Coaches on the camp will be Chris & Richard Main and will have 1 practice partner each day. Each day will be limited to 14 players and to book your place on the course, please email info@northayrshirettc.co.uk.
As always, this camp offers a full day of table tennis under the guidance of qualified coaches and is open to players from all clubs in Scotland. Details are as follows ;

Tuesday April 12th – Beginners / Intermediates – 10am – 2.30pm
Wednesday April 13th – Advanced / National – 10am – 3pm
Thursday April 14th – Advanced / National – 10am – 3pm

Cost : £15 per day                    Venue : St Matthews Academy

Dumfries Training Camp
Training Camp to be held at DTTC with Scotland national squad player Calum Main. Open to players from all clubs, ages and abilities. To book, or for further details contact Chris Main on cmain88@gmail.com.

Tuesday – Beginners 10-12pm. Main session intermediate/advanced 1-6pm
Wednesday – 10-4pm (intermediate/advanced only)
Thursday – Beginners 10-12pm. Intermediate/advanced – service practice and match play discussion (10-12pm). 12.30 – 4.30pm training.
Some tables will be free on Tuesday and Wednesday evening for those wishing to do individual practice or arrange 1-1s with coaches – Calum Main, Chris Main or Dylan De Silva.

Maximum number of players per day is 16 so book early to confirm a place.
Closing date for registration is Sunday 3^rd April.
Please make cheques payable to Dumfries Table Tennis Club.

Up & Coming Competitions / Camps
March 26th / 27th – Inter League
April 5th / 6th / 7th – Dumfries Easter Camp
April 9th / 10th – British League
April 12th / 13th / 14th – NATTC Easter Camp
April 17th – WoS Junior League
April 23rd / 24th – National Championships
30th May / April 1st – Development Training
May 7th / 8th – Blackpool GP

National League Division 3 Winners

The final weekend of the Scottish National League took place on Saturday 19th March at Drumchapel Sports Centre and High School. North Ayrshire Table Tennis Club’s (NATTC) Division 1 team consisting of Richard Main, Christopher Main and Colin Dalgleish had won this division the past 4 years however they knew it wasn’t possible to win this season as they were too many points strengthened sides Drumchapel TTC and Knightswood TTC. After an impressive win over Edinburgh Murrayfield winning 6-0, they couldn’t capitalise on this firm losing out to Knightswood and eventual runners up 4-2 in a closely fought match. NATTC finished in 4th spot and will look to improve on this position next year. Drumchapel TTC went on to win this division as they remained unbeaten throughout the season.

In the 3rd division, NATTC’s team of Andy MacPherson, Chris Barclay and Martin Johnson were in prime position to win the league and gain promotion to the 2nd division. With an excellent win over Edinburgh Murrayfield 4-2 in their first match, it would mean that NATTC had to win their final match 4-2 to win the league on points difference. NATTC took the lead 3-2 in this high stake match, which meant 13 year old Martin Johnson had to win the last match to win the league and seal promotion, which he did in emphatic fashion winning 3-0. Great team effort throughout the season and thoroughly deserved, congrats.

NATTC’s 4th Divison team consisting of Jill Taylor, Ryan Henry and Robin Wilson ended their 2015- 16 national league campaign with a 6-0 win over North Merchiston (Edinburgh) and a close 4-2 loss against Triangle (Aberdeen). This meant that they finished in a commendable 5th place and will also look to improve on this position next year and challenge for promotion into the 3rd division.

Dumfries Friendly Match

Dumfries Table Tennis Club invited a squad of North Ayrshire players down to compete in a inter club friendly match on Friday 11th March. 9 players from NATTC travelled down to compete in team matches with consisted of three 3 v 3 matches.

All matches were very close and played in good spirit, NA A beat Dumfries A 5-4, NA B beat Dumfries B 6-3 & NA C beat Dumfries C beat 5-4. Dumfries TTC are holding a Easter Training Camp on April 5th, 6th & 7th with information on their website – www.dumfriesttc.co.uk.

Dumfries A                         North Ayrshire A
Keir Morton                        Chris Main
Danny Bajwa                      Richard Main
Dylan De Silva                    Robin Wilson

Dumfries B                         North Ayrshire B
Gordon Duff                      Martin Johnson
Stuart Brown                     Harvey McDonald
Liam Marshall                   Ryan Henry

Dumfries C                        North Ayrshire C
Kenny Lee                          Kayser Collins
Ross Thomson                  Jamie Johnson
Catrin Ace                          Owen Wilson