Visit from Middlesbrough MP Andy McDonald

Middlesbrough MP Andy McDonald visited Ormesby Table Tennis Club this morning during one of the club’s 50plus sessions.

With the club still being reduced to 9 tables instead of the usual 15 due to the current Covid restrictions, there was still a really good atmosphere.

Club Chairman with Middlesbrough MP Andy McDonald

MP Andy enjoyed a few minutes on the robot leading to the suggestion that perhaps we should sign him up for one of the Ormesby Teams!!!!

Chairman’s Newsletter

Dear Members,

As I am sure most of you will be aware the announcement from Boris Johnson on Monday means a further delay in the Club being able to return to the normal programme after the pandemic.

We are, therefore, needing to keep the current arrangements in place until further notice from the Government which is expected towards the end of July.

Generally the Club sessions are going well, even with the restrictions and the majority of our objectives are being met.

One of the these is to help our top juniors to perform well in National competitions.  This weekend is the English National Cup and of the thirteen selected boys, no less than five have come through the Ormesby Club, Josh Weatherby, Thomas Rayner, Ben Piggott, David Gofton and Joe Cope.  Unfortunately, Thomas has had to withdraw due to an injury.  Their progress can be followed on the TTE Facebook page over the weekend.

We had a meeting of the Trustees on Sunday and we are planning to go ahead with two initiatives which are targeted at helping the Club’s finances.  We are launching a Sport England Crowdfunder project shortly which can result in a £10,000 automatic award from Sport England provided we meet our targets.  This is likely to be launched as soon as the full return is confirmed by the Government and all Club members assistance with this would be greatly appreciated.

Further details will be issued shortly.

Finally, by joining together Top Squad coaches including Denis Neale and Carole Moore and our Community Coach, Malcolm Muldoon, we are looking to launch a new Hopes programme which is targeting primary schools children.

After the lockdown has been lifted we are looking to promote a “Find the Next Star” day which will be widely publicised and invites parents to bring their youngsters to the Club for effectively, a trial.

We are also planning to increase the number of primary schools that we will be working with in the next school term in order to generate more interest from talented youngsters in our catchment area.

If you know of any parents and youngsters who may be interested in coming along to the “Find the Next Star” day then please let them know that this is coming up and that they would have an opportunity to participate on the day.

I will keep you advised of the Clubs progress as the Governments timetable progresses.

Best Wishes

Alan Ransome OBE

European Youths for Ben

European Youths

Ormesby Top Squad player Ben Piggott has been selected for the Junior (under 19’s) England Squad.

Ben will travel to Varazdin in Croatia to compete in the European Youths Championships.

The junior event runs from July 18th until the 24th.

Almost there – now its the seniors turn to play

Dear Members,

Following the Government’s announcement on Monday, I am pleased to be able to advise all of our members that we are able to invite everyone to participate in the Club’s programmes from next Monday 17^th May.

The restrictions due to the Covid virus have not been fully lifted, we are still in a restricted mode, which means that we can only use 9 tables and all of the requirements regarding masks and other procedures, remain in place but nevertheless this does allow everyone to participate in the Club’s sessions.  Social distancing, face masks and good hygiene needs to be maintained at all times.

The U18’s, both with Top Squad and the Hopes groups, have been able to operate from 12^th April.  With regard to the Top Squad, it means that the senior players who are members of the Top Squad are also able to participate from Monday.

This will also mean that parents will be able to wait in the lounge during sessions, however, the same principal of masks and social distancing must be observed.

For the Top Squad, bookings are still required with Carole Moore

50+, Hopes and Open sessions are to be booked with Brenda Stephenson brenda_stephenson@hotmail.com  Mobile: 07803 137285.

Once the session is full i.e. 18 players, then no more will be allowed into that session, so if you book late there is a chance you may not be included in that particular session.

With regards to the cafe opening, the date for this is under consideration but will not be from the start of this return.  We will keep you informed of the progress which is being made with this facility.

The programme is therefore:

Top Squad – keep training

Ben Piggott gets ready to serve

Covid-19 has proved to be a challenging time for the Junior Top Squad players at Ormesby although they have still been practicing when and wherever possible.

Zoom practice sessions have proved popular and TT robots have come in very useful.

Edward Adams left and Spencer Wardell 

Some of the Under 18’s have enjoyed playing with the England Junior and Cadet players at Ormesby TTC in combined training camps.

Juniors return to play

Ormesby Newsletter

Dear Members

Return to Play 

Following the recent roadmap from the Government regarding the relaxation of restrictions from the Coronavirus the advise from Table Tennis England, which ultimately comes from the Government, is that the junior training excluding the senior players, is likely to be possible from the 12^th April provided that the figures with the progress in overcoming the virus are in accordance with expectations.

With regard to the senior play, which may well be possible to restart provided that the players operate in bubbles of 6 from 17^th May. We are waiting further information with regard to this.  If this is not possible then provided all is on track with overcoming the virus the 21^st June is the day we would be able to fully open as we were up to 12 months ago assuming that the lockdown restriction being lifted stays on track.

BBC Archive  

There was a point of interest to members from BBC Archives, which was available earlier this week.  The BBC produced a piece for their North East sports broadcast 50 years ago in 1971 which was the year before we won the European Cup.  This seems to have gone viral on the table tennis social media.  Please find below the link to this feature which shows the club very well in its early days.

https://www.facebook.com/1097524425/posts/10222983331467233/?d=n

There was a second important feature, it was produced by a film crew from Sport England in 2004 featuring the club when it moved to Cargo Fleet Lane.  The club received a grant of £5000 from Sport England to build the social area, kitchen, gym, improve the roof and instal the car park.  This has been widely used by Sport England to promote their facilities programme.  Please find below the YouTube link which features this film.

https://youtu.be/YZVv7hmICAk

Job Vacancies 

Finally, when we know of any table tennis job vacancies in the area we tend to advise our members.  Currently there is a Sales Assistant position available at Ransome Sporting Goods in the Butterfly Table Tennis Department and details of this are attached.  There are also vacancies for two Apprentices, one in the Sales Office and one in the Warehouse.

If you know of anyone who is interested please pass on the information to them, particularly, if they have a table tennis background which is one part of the desirables for any appointments of this kind.

I will keep you advised of any Return to Play developments.

Best Wishes

Alan Ransome OBE

Happy New Year to All

As 2021 dawns let us all hope for a Healthy and Happy New Year for all our Table Tennis Friends

Ormesby Newsletter

Dear Members 

Following the Government announcement which moved Middlesbrough into Tier 4 yesterday, the guidance from Table Tennis England which comes from the Government is that the relaxation of restrictions which applies to coaching groups for Under 18 players, whilst being relaxed for Tiers 1, 2 and 3, are not relaxed for Tier 4. 

This means that the Top Squad at the club and any other club activities, for that matter, are discontinued for the time being. 

Up to now we do not have any indication of how long Middlesbrough will stay in Tier 4.  Clearly we will be watching this carefully and will contact you again as soon as there is some clarity on this or that we have notification that we can resume. 

I am sorry to bring you this notice however, I am sure you can all appreciate the second wave of the Coronavirus is very serious and we all need to keep ourselves safe. 

Finally, I would like to wish all our members a happy and successful new year.  I am confident in the information received from our Government and, in fact, the Governments across the western world, that these vaccines which are currently being offered to the population of this country will make a huge difference as far as the Coronavirus is concerned and that we will be back to normal, or as near normal as possible, in the spring or early summer. 

This means we will be able to resume the full club’s activities at that time and I will ensure that this happens at the earliest possible date when it is safe to do so. 

In the meantime, please look after your yourselves and our family and stay safe.  I am confident that 2021 is going to be a better year.

Best Wishes –  Alan Ransome

Lockdown Latest

Dear Members

As I am sure you are aware the new Government restrictions become operative from the 2nd December.   Tees Valley is in Tier 3 which imposes major restrictions on table tennis clubs such as ours.

Only the Top Squad juniors and junior coaching could go ahead prior to the lockdown.  We have had to cancel the Top Squad junior training and the junior coaching for the last month because of the lockdown, but we have been advised that we are able to restart this part of the clubs activities from the 2nd December.

We will, therefore, be planning to run sessions as before on a Thursday, Monday, Tuesday and Saturday from the 12th December up until Christmas.  We are still considering the other junior coaching.  These rules are due for revision by the Government on the 16th December so that could indicate a change, however, the likelihood is that the restrictions that are in place will remain until the new year, but we will keep an eye open for this.

I regret that I cannot bring better news across the whole club situation for our members, but clearly we need to comply with the guidelines and recommendations from the Government and Table Tennis England in respect of the above.

With regard to the Top Squad junior coaching, which is going ahead as above, I would like to remind all participants that the rules we needed to introduce to be compliant with the Covid-19 requirements are still in place and must be observed, copy attached.

I will keep you advised of developments as and when they become apparent.

Best Wishes

Alan Ransome

Second Lockdown for the Ormesby Club

Ormesby Table Tennis Club Newsletter

Dear Members

As I am sure you are aware the Government have issued a lockdown for the whole of England from 5th November through until at least 2nd December.

We have been checking with Table Tennis England to establish what the instructions  from the Government to the National Governing Body are for their member organisations.  The notice from Table Tennis England has confirmed that all table tennis clubs, such as ours, need to close down for the lockdown period.  This means that we will be unable to run any sessions, even for the under 18’s, between now and at least 2nd December, which means that all of our activities are on hold for the time being.

I will be following closely the information from Table Tennis England, will be in touch with the key people in the association and I will keep you advised of any developments.  I regret to provide this information to you but I am sure you all realise that is where we are at the moment.

This is an ideal opportunity for you to play at home if you have the facilities to be able to do so.  It may give you the chance to introduce the sport to some of your family members who are not enjoying the benefits of table tennis so far.

In any case, I wish you as good a build up as possible to Christmas in the current circumstances.

Take care and stay safe.

Best Wishes

Alan Ransome

Ormesby Table Tennis Club host the EJS

The Table Tennis England Junior Squad combined with some Ormesby Junior Players have had a great weekend training together at the Ormesby Club.

October Newsletter from Alan Ransome

Ormesby TTC Newsletter 06.10.20

Dear Members

As I believe the majority of the members are aware, we have received further guidance from Table Tennis England to the effect that as Middlesbrough is in one of the restricted Covid-19 areas, we should not organise any table tennis at the club for over 18’s.  The only sessions that can proceed are the ones for under 18’s in a bubble of up to 15 supervised by a coach or the one to one coaching sessions for the under 18 players.

We have always taken the view that it is very important that we take all the steps we can to protect our members from the virus, at the same time as encouraging the participation in table tennis.

I have been in contact with Table Tennis England with regard to all of this and I know that they are in communication with the Department of Culture, Media and Sport, which is the government department responsible for dealing with the sports government bodies through Sport England, and are looking for the opportunity to relax the restrictions.

I am keeping on top of this and I am attending the Table Tennis England National Council meeting at the weekend when this will be one of the items on the agenda.  We will do all we can to resume play at the club as soon as we receive guidance to do so and when we are told it is safe.

Many thanks for your continued support during this difficult period.

Best Wishes
Alan Ransome OBE

Jimmy’s New Lockdown Poem

With the new Lockdown rules once again enforcing all players – apart from the Under 18’s – to have another break from Table Tennis We are please to have a poem especially written by Jimmy Scope.

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We’ve all become players in this pantomime, as this corona virus takes control of our time.
We’ve all been restricted in the things that we do, we’ve been penalised by the acts of a few.
So for a while we must put play on to pause, as we must abide by the government’s new laws.
But hopefully soon we’ll all be delighted, when the club reopens and we are all reunited.

Jimmy Scope – Saturday 3 October 2020

TTKIDZ Girls Squad

 

After the club closed down on March 16 due to the Covid – 19 virus,

we thought we may lose the TTKIDZ girl’s squad which had been flourishing prior to the lockdown.

Fortunately, many of the group have now returned and it is great to see the numbers are building up again.

 

Table Tennis Returns to Ormesby

After 16 weeks of ‘Lockdown’ it was really good to see so many of the Ormesby members playing table tennis again.

With a reduction in the number of tables being used, and lots and lots of pre-planned precautions put into place, we hope our players enjoyed the experience while being  careful at the same time.

50+ PLAYERS

A really positive start to the Ormesby 50+ sessions.

Although with a reduction of tables used, and all tables having to be booked prior to the session start, things appear to be going very well with every table fully book.

We appreciate everybody’s cooperation at this difficult time and although some things may appear to be a little different, just to be able to play table tennis once more is wonderful.

EMAILS & MESSAGES FROM PLAYERS

Hi Malcolm, Brenda, Gary, Alan
Thanks for all your hard work. It was an excellent start to the return of table tennis, I felt quite safe.
Best regards –  Mike Newton

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TOP SQUAD

Monday 27 July saw the first Top Squad session since Monday 16 March when Lockdown began for the Ormesby Club.

Denis Neale was pleased to be back coaching again and being extra careful wearing a visor and face mask.

With all tables full, it was nice to see the players back training hard, let us hope they have some competitions and leagues to play in soon.

At Last !!!!!

Dear Members,

We are pleased that Ormesby Table Tennis Club will be opened again on Monday 27^th July and we would like to welcome all of our members into the Club.

We are only being allowed to reopen with extensive strict guidelines being imposed.  We need to ensure that the Club is safe from a Covid-19 point of view and we have gone to considerable lengths to ensure that we are in compliance with the recommendations that are coming from the government and Table Tennis England.

We recognise that amongst our members several are in the vulnerable category and others are from families that have vulnerable members, therefore, it is essential that we take every possible step to ensure the Coronavirus is not transmitted in the Club.  We ask every member to take time to understand all of the new rules and to take great care to ensure that they are respected.  The conditions that have been placed on us are very difficult to implement and we have done our utmost to ensure that we provide the best table tennis possible whilst ensuring the safety of our members.

Alan Ransome OBE

Level 2 Umpire success for Gary

Congratulations to Gary Whyman who today qualified as a

Level 2 Umpire (National Umpire)
Well done Gary
Gary is the Umpire Secretary for Cleveland County Table Tennis Associaton and plays in the British Vetts League for Ormesby Table Tennis Club

Ormesby Table Tennis Club Closed Until Further Notice

Dear Members,

I regret to inform you that we have decided to follow Government advice and close the Table Tennis Club for the time being.

The Government advise given in the press conference at around 5:00pm yesterday was that individuals should avoid personal contact and should avoid going to facilities such as pubs, cinemas and clubs.  With the size of Ormesby Table Tennis Club we clearly fall into that category.

The Club has been open on a regular basis consistently for the last 60 years, and this is the first time we have felt it necessary to issue a closure notice.  It is not just that we need to protect the members and their families from the possibility of picking up this virus, we also have a responsibility with regard to our volunteers and staff, some of whom are of the age, which is designated by the Government, as being in greater danger.  Therefore, we do need to take action to protect them as well as our playing members.

At this stage we do not know how long the closure will be for.  This will be kept under review.  Unfortunately, we have little option, in my view, with this and we have taken the only sensible action in the circumstances.  It is very much our intention to reopen as soon as it is possible, and all members will be informed as soon as this decision has been taken.

Many thanks for your cooperation.

Best Wishes

Alan Ransome

British Premier League North Ayrshire v Ormesby

Ormesby kept their hopes of a top four finish and a place in the final playoffs alive in the Premier Division of the British Table Tennis League on Saturday when they visited Scotland’s North Ayrshire and won by seven sets to nil.

Although the result was a big victory for the Teesside Club the sets were not as one sided as the score line suggests.

Ormesby’s Chinese Number 1, Sining Zhang, needed four games to beat Zak Wilson.  Darius Knight was taken to five sets by Wilson when Knight recovered from two games down to win 3-2.  Helshan Weerasinghe had a tight match against Colin Dalgleish winning three sets to one.

Helshan Weerasinghe – most consistant player

This result means that Ormesby are currently in a top four position, however, if the team in 5th position, BATTS from Harlow, beat the team in second place, Archway Peterborough, in the final match of season then Ormesby will be in 5th place and in the relegation zone.

The Teesside Club are already so far ahead of the bottom team, North Ayrshire, on sets they are safe from any danger of relegation from the top division.