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ITTA AGM Report 2010

13 July 2010

The 2010 ITTA Annual General Meeting was held on Saturday 12^th June 2010 at Sport HQ, Park West, Dublin. Good attendances of 43 members heard reports of the 2009/10 season’s activities and were updated about current initiatives within the Association.

Key Highlights/Initiatives:

Finance: affiliations for 2011 to remain at same level as in 2010; good internal controls introduced in ITTA; draft of a set of controls circulated to Branches for input prior to implementation at Branch level; draft IT Strategy developed

Schools: All Ireland Primary and Secondary Schools Championships held during season. Senior Schools Internationals being hosted in Limerick at end of June; active National Schools Initiative in 15 schools

Sponsorships: Butterfly and Stiga with a number of small event associated sponsorships

Junior Challenger Series: this highly successful series to be extended in incoming season with possibility of a Senior Series being introduced; 10 Junior Challenger events targeted in 2010/11

Umpires:  Umpires Association trained 8 new County Umpires from the Irish Wheelchair Association and 2 new National Umpires during the season.

Need for Volunteers:  there is a need for additional volunteers in all areas of ITTA activity and offers of assistance welcomed, especially for setting up and taking down of venues before events; appointment of J. Robinson as Anti-Doping Officer

Marketing:  increase in media and print coverage during season; increased profile for sport and activity on new website (54,063 visits); sponsorship potential and fundraising maximized during the year; introduction of new features, including YouTube on website; presence of ITTA Marketing Table at tournaments

Women in Sport: active increased programme in place involving 26 projects; new Coordinator appointed – Ms. Rhona Daly from 19 June 2010;

Performance:  participation of 2 players in Eurokids 2010 Programme; future participation in FUTURE HOPES Programme; introduction of High Performance Committee to receive and consider nominations for appointment of HP positions, the Selectors and the HP Programme; Irish junior/cadet & senior teams competed in 9 Senior and 9 Junior Cadet events during the season; Irish Senior Men’s Team finished in 64^th place out of 109 teams at the World Senior Team Championships in Russia; High Performance Strategy drafted for introduction

DCU Sports Academy: the operation of the Academy reviewed and certain operational changes made

Coach Education: courses at all levels to be organized in September; need for more tutors to be trained

Child Protection: all working with children in the sport must receive Garda clearance in R.O.I. and from Access NI in Ulster

Tommy Caffrey Trophy: this new award of “Player of the Tournament” at the Senior/Under 21/Veterans Interpros was awarded to Ashley Robinson for his performances at the 2010 event

Colum Slevin Award:  a new award to be introduced for presentation to the “Player of the Tournament” at the 2011 Junior/Cadet/Under 12 Interpros; criteria to be circulated later in current year

Calendar of Events 2010/11: Version 3 of the ITTA Calendar to issue shortly

Review of Junior & Senior Ranking Schemes:  review of both schemes being undertaken and final drafts to be issued to Branches shortly for comment; thank you to those who have inputted to the reviews

Elections:

The following were elected:

v  Human Resources Director:      Mr.T.Mitchell

v  Vice Presidents:  Mr. T. Phillips MBE, Mr. T. Martin, Mr. P. O’Brien 

v  Disciplinary Committee:  Mrs.L. Cooke, Dr. W.S. Chan, Messrs. J. Campbell, P. Conneely & C. Higgins

v  Jury of Appeal:  Miss K. O’Hara, Messrs. N. Hitchcock, P. Talini & J. Wilson

ITTA Awards:

45 nominations were received and the following awards for 2009/10 presented:

v  Anna Kelly Female Coach of the Year:      LOUISE LONG

v  Ken Strong Male Coach of the Year:       MARCUS MCDONNELL

v  Rhanbuoy Trophy Senior Male Player:      PAUL MCCREERY

v  Eleanor McKee Trophy Senior Female Player: ASHLEY GIVAN

v  Billy Marshall Junior Award:               PAUL MCCREERY

v  Press Officer of the Year:                NORMAN MCBRIDE

v  Stiga Volunteer of the Year:             JIMMY HAYES

v  Joe Veselsky Merit Award:              VIVIENNE BARRY

Further information is available from ITTA Secretary, Ken Strong at secretary@irishtabletennis.com or by telephoning 0044 28 8224 3121.

Kenneth Strong

Director & Secretary

Irish Table Tennis Association Ltd

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