PremierCLUBMARK Status

Of the many achievements by the Club in the last two years, we are probably the most proud of gaining PremierCLUBMARK accreditation in August 2010. This involved Club members working together towards a common goal and motivated us to produce a Club Action Plan. This also involved working with a number of people outside the Club, including Table Tennis England staff for whose support we were most grateful. The Club came runner-up of the National Premier Clubmark club of the year award (2011) and won Premier Clubmark club of the year award (2011) for the South East region. We were also immensely proud of these awards given it was only our inaugural year as a Premier Clubmark club.

In March 2014 the New Milton Table Tennis Club achieved CLUBMARK re-accreditation from SPORT ENGLAND in conjunction with the sport’s National Governing Body, Table Tennis England (formerly known as the ETTA). All clubs have to apply for re-accreditation after three years. The re-accreditation process was completed by the previous Club Treasurer and Press Officer Malcolm Floyd. The Club’s evidence folder contains nearly 100 assorted documents including Action Plans and de-rigueur Risk Assessments. It was initially submitted to the Table Tennis England’s Regional Development Officer, Lisa Williams who praised the quality of the submission when signing it off. It was forwarded to the Table Tennis England’s headquarters in Hastings where it was signed off on behalf of SPORT ENGLAND and the prestigious certificate issued to the Club. Our status as a 4 star Premier Ability Club was confirmed following the submission of our annual return at the beginning of October 2015 to Table Tennis England.

Competition

The Club currently has 45 fully paid up members. In the 2024/5 season we had 8 teams in the local Bournemouth and District Table Tennis league (BDTTA) maintaining its position as one of the largest clubs in the league. The Club was represented across all divisions, from the Premier Division down to Division 3.

Last season the Club’s teams finished 4th in the Premier Division, came top in Division 1 and finished 2nd in Division 2.

Coaching

The club currently has two qualified coaches; Matthew Daish and Andrew Stainton who are the Clubs Development and Coaching Officers. Coaching is currently available at the Grange School venue on Sundays from 7pm until the end of August. There are plans to visit local schools to attract more to the sport.

Following training courses identified by the Club’s Action Plan, Club Secretary Bev Scott-Johns qualified as a TTE Tournament Organiser and a TTE County Umpire and  Andrew Daish is a County Umpire.

Mudeford Community Centre

The Club is also very proud of the very active part it played in helping to save the Mudeford Wood Community Centre from closure by the local council. The Club Secretary, Bev Scott-Johns is one of the Directors of the Board of Mudeford Wood Community Trust, an incorporated charity. He endeavours to keep Club members informed of future developments. The threatened closure of the Centre, which is one of the Club’s two main league venues, spurred the Club to seek alternative premises. In September 2011, Christchurch Borough Council gave the go-ahead to a lease for the Mudeford Wood Community Trust (run by the “Friends of Mudeford Wood”) to take over the management of the Centre in April 2012.

Since that time, the Club has help develop the venue for table tennis by the installation of improved lighting and net dividers.

Disabled Players

In June 2015 Shaun Newcomb received the Sports and Recreation Achievement Award at The Spinal Injuries Association Awards. He was nominated by Table Tennis England Development Officer for the South West, Lisa Williams. He was named as the winner at the recent awards ceremony at the Hilton Birmingham Metropole, in front of 200 guests and VIP presenter Susie Dent from Channel 4’s Countdown. He was nominated primarily for his work with the Salisbury Spinal Unit, though he also coaches at New Milton TTC and with a Regional Disability Squad. Shaun is also captain of New Milton B in the local Bournemouth League and a Medical Classifier for table tennis. A Medical Classifier assesses the new athlete and classifies him or her according to their particular disability against the criteria laid down by the ITTF.