At the recent Annual Presentation Evening of the Bournemouth and District Table Tennis Association, New Milton Club Secretary Bev Scott-Johns was pleasantly surprised but delighted to be awarded the association’s prestigious Michael Wettstein Cup for Outstanding Services In Administration.

This accolade recognised Bev’s sterling work on the Bournemouth and District Management Committee, especially for keeping the Pairs League going over the past season, and as a very efficient and proactive league club secretary. Bev has many strings to his bow; he is a County Umpire and Tournament Organiser, both skills being much in evidence on behalf of his club and the local leagues.  Bev is pictured below having proudly received his trophy from guest of honour Charlie Childs, a Board Member of Table Tennis England (Bev is on the left!).

This honour comes hot on the heels of Bev being awarded New Milton 2019 Citizen of the Year for his long-term service to the sport of Table Tennis and particularly his long-term commitment as a volunteer at New Milton Table Tennis Club. Bev has been a volunteer for over 30 years supporting its membership, a successful and multi-ability club, with the youngest being 10 years old, and the oldest 80 years young.

It was only just over a year ago that Bev received a Torch Trophy Trust Award for Outstanding Services to Sport, presented by none other than HRH the Duke of Gloucester. In reading out Bev’s citation, England and West Ham legend Sir Trevor Brooking CBE said that if ever Bev were to leave the New Milton Club, they would need at least three people to replace him! It is good to see that Bev is rightfully receiving recognition for his many years of service to the sport.

Back to the Bournemouth & District Presentation Evening, Bev wasn’t the only member of the New Milton Club to receive an award. On behalf of her H team, Taki Hall collected the runners-up trophies for the Times & Directory Handicap Plate competition for the second year running, and Kai Major collected the Under 18’s winners trophy.

Former club chairman Steve Hemmings won the Vets 60+ title, and England Veteran Brian Bickell won the Vets 70+ title for the second year running. Bev collected the Div 2 Individual’s runner-up shield on behalf of Svet Ignatov who was unable to attend.

Steve Hemmings was called up to the front for a second time as he and Merton’s Kevan Smith jointly received the trophy for the Best Match of the Individuals Tournaments. The Club was also delighted that Broadstone Club’s Krzysztof Skwarek, a regular and popular visitor to New Milton club practice nights, received the award for the League’s Most Improved Player of the season.

The New Milton Club is always on the lookout for new members, from experienced players to absolute beginners, but would particularly like to attract more junior and female players. The first visit to the Club is free!  Anybody interested in joining our very friendly club, or who would just like a bit more information, should contact Club Secretary Bev Scott-Johns on 01425 619552.

Members and guests of the New Milton Table Tennis Club attended the recent Annual Presentation Evening of the Bournemouth and District Table Tennis Association, and witnessed a procession of club members going to the front to collect their trophies.

The presentations were made by Guest of Honour Tony Clayton, who is President of the Dorset Table Tennis Association and former England International. One of Tony’s great claims to fame was being in the England team which visited China during the so-called “Ping Pong Diplomacy” episode in 1971.

First up for New Milton, Club Secretary Bev Scott-Johns collected the League Division 5 team runners-up trophies on behalf of Mike Melaniphy’s L team, none of whom were able to attend the event.

Next up were Terry Jenvey (captain) and Rob Fagan from the G team to pick up their Division 3 league runners-up trophies. The Gees led the way for most of the season, but were pipped to the post by one point by winners Bournemouth Sports K. It wasn’t long before Jenvey had to return to the front to pick up his Division 3 Individuals runner-up trophy.

Stuart Burton (captain) and Taki Hall were there to represent the M team who came runners-up in the Times and Directory Handicap Plate, and the J team’s Mike Roberts (captain), John Parkhouse, Plamen Petrov and Adam Titcombe were on hand to collect their Times & Directory Handicap Cup winners tophies.

Taki Hall had to return to the front to collect her Division 5 Individuals winners trophy from her first ever appearance in the tournaments, and 15 year old Jack Trafford picked up the Under 15s winners trophy for the second year running.

Club Veteran Brian Bickell (pictured below with Tony Clayton) improved on last year’s haul of the Vets 60+ and Vets 70+ titles by adding the Vets 40+ and Vets 50+ titles to his belt, the first time that all four Vets titles have been won by one individual. To spare our hero’s legs, he was told to stay at the front rather than make three return trips.

People were scratching their heads as to whether or not any player had won the David Woodcock Trophy for Most Improved Player on more than one occasion, but this distinction certainly fell to 17 year old Kai Major, who previously won it in the 2014/2015 season. Kai (pictured below) returned to table tennis after courageously battling Hodgkin’s Lymphoma, for which he underwent chemotherapy and radiotherapy at Southampton Paediatric Oncology Unit. He was classed as being in remission in January 2017 and has made an enthusiastic and successful return to the sport, gaining a 50% winning average in his first season in the Premier, winning a couple of hat-tricks in the process.

New Milton Club Secretary Bev Scott-Johns continued to receive plaudits after receiving a prestigious Torch Trophy Trust Award for Outstanding Service to Sport back in March. This accolade had pride of place in the Bournemouth Association’s newsletter which was available at the presentation dinner. Bev was very proud to receive the award from HRH the Duke of Gloucester at the 55^th Annual Torch Trophy Trust Awards ceremony at the Army and Navy Club, Pall Mall, London, his citation having been read out by West Ham and England football legend Sir Trevor Brooking CBE.

A fortnight of table tennis tournaments concluded with the Grand Finals Night of the Bournemouth and District Annual Individual Championships at the Grange School, Somerford, last Friday night. Four players from the New Milton Club took part in the Finals, with three of them going home with titles.

Octogenarian Brian Bickell broke a Bournemouth & District record by being the first player ever to win all four of the Vets titles. In the Vets 40+ final he avenged his defeat by Bournemouth Sports’ player Louie La in the Division 1 semi-finals by depriving him of a second title. The Vets 50+ saw him narrowly defeat fellow Div 1 player Ian Brown from Broadstone in a gruelling match that went all the way to five sets. However, he had easier victories against fellow Div 1 player Ian Robertson (Merton) in the Vets 60+ and Vets 70+ finals, seeing him off in three straight sets in both matches. This tops last year’s performance in which he “only” won the Vets 60+ and Vets 70+ titles.

The Junior Under 15 final was a repeat of last year’s match between Milton’s Jack Trafford (Premier) and Matt Stanfield (Div 1) from Bournemouth Sports, with Trafford coming out on top again. Whereas Trafford disposed of Stanfield in three straight sets in last year’s final, the Bourne youngster took him right down to the wire this year, Trafford just edging it 13-11 in the fifth and final set.

For the second year running, the Div 5 title was won by a New Milton player, this year it being Taki Hall, playing in her first Bournemouth tournament. Her opponent, Marina Scott (Bournemouth Sports) gave Hall a really good run for her money, coming back to win the second set 11-9 after losing the first 5-11. Hall then narrowly won the next two sets 14-12, 11-9 to secure the title.

New Milton’s Terry Jenvey did well to make it through to the Div 3 final, but he faced a very tough opponent in the shape of southpaw Howard Lewis from Bournemouth Sports. The result went the way of the form book (Lewis was second to top in the winning averages), with Jenvey losing in three straight sets, having put up a good fight.

Following the nomination by Malcolm Floyd, Bev Scott-Johns is to receive a Torch Trophy Trust Award for his outstanding voluntary work on behalf of the New Milton Table Tennis Club and the Sport in general. This award which was supported by Table Tennis England, will be presented at the 55^th Annual Torch Trophy Trust Awards ceremony at the Army and Navy Club, Pall Mall, London on 7^th March by HRH The Duke of Gloucester.

The Torch Trophy Trust is a charity that rewards, recognises and supports volunteers in sport and recreation, and recognises the achievements of some of the UK’s most outstanding volunteers in the annual Torch Trophy Trust Awards, presented by a member of the Royal Family. This year, the Trust intended to recognise 20 outstanding volunteers across sport, so Bev will be amongst a very select few.

It is anticipated that Sara Sutcliffe, Table Tennis England’s CEO, will be present at the ceremony, along with other luminaries, to watch Bev receive his award, which he richly deserves.

New Milton Table Tennis Club took the unusual step of nominating two of its officers for the “Club Volunteer of the Year” award under Table Tennis England’s Annual “Pride of Table Tennis” awards scheme. Looking at the nominations below shows why the club felt that both Steve Hemmings and Malcolm Floyd were worthy of this honour:-

Steve took on the role of club chairman in 2014 to which he brought the qualities of leadership and professionalism acquired from his previous roles in IT and Project Management businesses. Despite a very busy professional life, running a number of family businesses, Steve works extremely hard for the club and is always on hand to support other club officers in their duties. Steve was the prime mover in the club’s very successful relocation to the Dorset Table Tennis Centre at the Grange School in Somerford. Steve is always looking for ways to return value to the club membership, for example he organised a series of very successful free coaching sessions for members in 2016. In terms of the current year, Steve was highly involved in the club’s recent clubmark re-accreditation, and continued to captain the A team in the local Premier league. As usual, he organised the club’s presence in the annual Rugby Club Fun Day at which PING! New Forest was launched. Being of a highly practical disposition, inter alia, Steve also repairs the club’s damaged table tennis tables, even enlisting the help of long-suffering wife Lynn on the most recent occasion. Steve does not shout his achievements from the rooftops, rather he just gets on with things in his quiet and unassuming manner, making him truly one of Table Tennis’ “unsung heroes”.

Malcolm has worked on the New Milton Committee for many years, providing professional guidance and active support in many areas. Over the last year he has carried out the role of club Treasurer, whilst simultaneously being Press Secretary and Minutes Secretary. As a qualified accountant, he fulfils the role of Treasurer with skill, providing the necessary returns and financial guidance to the committee. In his role as Press Secretary, he collates all team results and posts a weekly summary on the club web site; he also provides a similar report to the local press for publication. In addition, Malcolm took on the role of Minutes Secretary following the resignation of the previous incumbent and these are now of the highest quality. On top of this, Malcolm volunteered to take the lead role in the club’s Clubmark re-accreditation process earlier this year. This involved a considerable amount of work collating, updating and entering the many documents and evidence required. Through his guidance, the club obtained re-accreditation in under 5 weeks, an achievement celebrated on the TTE web site home page.

Table Tennis England duly issued the certificates which were presented to Steve and Malcolm by Club Secretary Bev Scott-Johns at a small ceremony at a recent club night at the Grange, Somerford (photo below; l-r Malcolm, Bev, Steve).

Both winners will be considered into the Regional Pride of Table Tennis Awards which will be announced next year. Malcolm wished Steve good luck in the regionals and Steve responded likewise, humbly adding that he thought Malcolm the more deserving case. Malcolm begged to differ!

Secretary Bev Scott-Johns was the recipent of the Club Volunteer of the Year award last season and was delighted that his fellow officers had been similarly honoured. The club is indeed fortunate to have these three chaps at the helm.

Table Tennis England invited the club to submit a photo for inclusion in TTE’s Club’s Newsletter article on clubmark successes and we were only too happy to oblige.

Steve Hemmings very kindly came up with a photo frame at no extra expense and we are happy to share the photo of the gleesome threesome proudly showing off the hard-earned certificate.

We are told that the article will shortly be appearing on the TTE website, so keep your eyes peeled.

Thanks to Steve for the photo (and frame!).

The Club is delighted to announce that it has achieved Clubmark Re-Accreditation after six weeks of hard slog led by Club Treasurer & Press Officer Malcolm Floyd.

Clubmark is Sport England’s national accreditation scheme for high quality community sports clubs and stands for higher standards of welfare, equity, coaching and management.

It shows that a Club provides the right environment which ensures the welfare of members and encourages everyone to enjoy sport and stay involved throughout their lives. It means that parents can rest assured that their children will be in a safe environment within a well-managed club. Another benefit of Clubmark is that many funding bodies state that applicants must have the accredition to be eligible for funding support.

The Club was congratulated by Table Tennis England, its National Governing Body, for the high quality and speed of its submission. We think that 6 weeks must be some kind of a record, but this is yet to be confirmed by Table Tennis England.  Malcolm would like to thank the officers and committee members for their help and support in this magnificent achievement, particularly club chairman Steve Hemmings.

The Club initially acquired the prestigious Clubmark status in August 2010 and gained its first re-accreditation in March 2014. We have just found out that accreditation now only last two years instead of three years, which reflects the increasingly higher standards expected from clubs.

In addition to being an “Ability Club” (Actively working with disabled people), the Club is also a 4-Star Premier Club, the highest rated club in the Bournemouth & District league. Clubmark accreditation is mandatory to achieve a star-rating.

We are always on the lookout for new members, from experienced players to absolute beginners, but would particulary like to attract more junior and lady members. Anybody interested in joining our very friendly club, or who would just like a bit more information, should contact Club Secretary Bev Scott-Johns on 01425 619552.

The Club’s hard-earned certificate appears below:-

At the recent annual Presentation Evening of the Bournemouth & District Table Tennis Association, New Milton Club members came away with a club record haul of trophies. The trophies were presented by Sandra Deaton, Chairman of Table Tennis England, the sport’s national governing body.

The club’s oldest player, 80 years young Brian Bickell won the Vets 60+ and the Vets 70+ titles, and the club’s youngest player, 13 year old Adam Titcombe picked up his Div 5 Individuals winners trophy. The club’s second youngest player, 14 year old Jack Trafford won the Junior Under 15 title and also came away with runners-up trophies for the Junior Under 18s, Division 2 and the Bournemouth Handicap. Jack and Brian, separated by a mere 66 years but together in table tennis, are pictured proudly displaying their trophies.

Another club veteran, club chairman Steve Hemmings was also there to pick up his Vets 50+ winners trophy.

18 year old Andy Tipsana made two trips to the front, the first on his own to collect his Div 1 Individuals winners trophy, and then with Bournemouth Sports players Ali Malloch, Finn Morgan-Bayliss and Zac Dowling to pick up the Valerie Scott-Johns Memorial Cup for the Best Match of the Individuals. Formerly called the Trevor Parry Award, this was donated by club secretary Bev Scott-Johns in memory of his late wife Valerie. The actual match was the Mens Doubles Semi-Final between Tipsana & Malloch and Morgan-Bayliss & Dowling, which unfortunately Tipsana and partner lost.

A number of the club’s Individuals title winners were unable to make the event, so club secretary Bev Scott-Johns collected winners trophies on behalf of Steve Cheesman (Div 3), Ben Greene (Div 4) and Gerard Redman (Vets 40+), and also a runner-up trophy for Graham Underwood (Div 3).

Captain of the H team, Les Smith proudly led his teammates Eddie Tompkins, Lewis Reading & Dave Sutton up to the front to collect their Div 4 league winners trophies. Scott-Johns went up in his own right as G team player to collect his Div 3 league runners-up trophy as well as the Times & Directory Handicap Plate runners-up trophy. He also picked up the trophies for his G team mates Graham Underwood, Mike Toole and Elliott Storr-Smith who were also absent.

Finally, the prestigious Coach of the Year Award went to Simon Heaps, a member of both New Milton and Bournemouth Sports Clubs. Heaps threw himself fully into the local coaching set-up this year and also took Milton’s rising starlet Jack Trafford under his wing. Heaps made light work of the UKCC Level 1 and Level 2 coaching qualifications and is now keen to take his Level 3 course. He has used his international experience from his playing days to great effect and now within the Dorset Table Tennis Academy has introduced a new Cadet Performance Squad which is already seeing a radical improvement to the region’s young players.

A fortnight of table tennis tournaments concluded with the Grand Finals Night of the Bournemouth and District Annual Individual Championships at the Grange School, Somerford last Friday night. Nine players from the New Milton club were involved in twelve of the fifteen singles finals, and the total haul for New Milton was nine titles, a club record.

14 year old Jack Trafford quite literally got the ball rolling in the first match of the evening to beat last year’s runner-up Matthew Stanfield (Bmth Sports) in the Junior Under 15 final. He went on to beat Krystof Skwarek (Broadstone) in their Bournemouth Handicap semi-final having given Skwarek a 9 start, but found the 14 start he had to give Yaroslav Troshchey (Winton YMCA) a bridge too far in the final.

Trafford got off to a good start against Breamore’s Luke Hunt in the Div 2 final by taking the first two sets 12-10, 11-9 but tantalisingly lost the next two 11-13, 11-13. There were some more fantastic exchanges in the decider, with Trafford’s backhand coming to the fore, but Hunt pulled away in the end to take it 11-8.

In the Junior Under 18 final Trafford had to take on Bmth Sports’ Ali Malloch who plays two divisions higher in the Premier league. He lost the first two sets 6-11, 13-15 but rallied to take the third 11-9, only to lose the fourth 6-11. The Milton youngster will be disappointed to have missed out on three of his four title bids, but he put in some excellent performances and the experience will have been invaluable.

New Milton were already assured of the Div 3 title, it was just a matter of whether it was Steve Cheesman from the F team or Graham Underwood, captain of the G team. The result went with the form book as Cheesman (pictured below), who won the Div 4 title last year, overwhelmed his club mate to win in three straight sets.

The Div 4 final saw Ben Greene slog it out with Richard Stroud from the Merton club in a match that seemed to last an eternity. Greene lost the first two sets but hung in there to win the next three to beat his much more experienced opponent.

In the Div 5 final, 13 year old Adam Titcombe dropped his first set 8-11 to Michael Kominek (Winton YMCA), but displayed a maturity beyond his years to take the next three sets to claim the title.

England Veteran Brian Bickell returned to the tournaments after a year’s lay off due to shoulder injury to win both of his Vets finals. In the Vets 60+ he despatched Dave Nicholls (Ringwood) in three straight sets, and did likewise in the Vets 70+ to last year’s champion Danny Allen (Merton).

In the Vets 50+ final, Milton club chairman Steve Hemmings (last year’s runner-up) took on former Milton player Alan Gordon who now plays for Bmth Sports. In a very open game, Hemmings’ dogged defence proved the perfect foil for Gordon’s forehand looping as Hemmings won the title in three straight sets.

The Div 1 final saw the comeback of the evening as left-hander Andy Tipsana took on Matthew Stanfield from Bmth Sports. The Bourne player went 2-1 up and was leading 10-5 in the fourth when Tipsana came back from the dead to take the set 15-13 after some thrilling exchanges. Now with the wind in his sails, Tipsana left nothing to chance to win the decider 11-7 and then comfort his bewildered opponent.

New Milton’s ninth and final title of the evening came in the Vets 40+ final as Gerard Redman took on fellow Div 1 player Ian Brown from the Broadstone club. The game ebbed and flowed and went all the way to five sets. It appeared that Brown had run out of puff and ideas in the decider and Redman (pictured below) won it very comfortably 11-4.

Milton’s record haul of titles is summarised below:-

Adam Titcombe (Div 5)

Jack Trafford (Junior Under 15)

Brian Bickell (Vets 60+ & Vets 70+)

Steve Cheesman (Div 3)

Ben Greene (Div 4)

Steve Hemmings (Vets 50+)

Gerard Redman (Vets 40+)

Andy Tipsana (Div 1)

Runners-up were Jack Trafford (Junior Under 18, Div 2 & Bmth Handicap) and Graham Underwood (Div 3).

The New Milton players will collect their hard earned trophies at the annual Bournemouth and District Presentation Evening on Friday 19^th May at the Ocean View Hotel, Bournemouth.