2019 Annual Report
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2019 ANNUAL REPORT Front Cover photographs Clockwise from Top Left; Photo 1: students participating in a primary school table tennis development session, Photo 2: Eberhard Kleiser registering players for Central Club at the Auckland table tennis stadium, Photo 3: students participating in a primary school table tennis development session, Photo 4: students participating in table tennis outdoors at Epsom Girls’ Grammar School, Photo 5: Eberhard Kleiser with students who participated in the 2019 Primary & Intermediate team competition (East Auckland venue, Term Three), Photo 6: Eberhard Kleiser delivering a table tennis development session outdoors in the Tech Dome at Ponsonby Intermediate AUCKLAND TABLE TENNIS ASSOCIATION 2019 ANNUAL REPORT To be presented to the Annual General Meeting of the Association on 24 th November, 2019 being held in the Auckland table tennis stadium lounge, commencing at 10.00a.m. OFFICERS AND MEMBERS OF THE COMMITTEE Patron Mr. Phil Goff, Mayor of Auckland City President Mr. Y. Lee Immediate Past President Mr. R. B. Penberthy Chairperson Mr. W. B. Gear Vice Presidents Mr. H. Dye, Mr. F. Tong Life Members E. K. Smith, G. V. Wilkinson, A. Tomlinson, R. F. Inns, J. Coad, W. Wilson, D. R. Jackson, R. B. Penberthy, J. Hally, I. Haynes, W. B. Gear, G. Tseung Deceased; F. R. Paton, K. G. Cantlay, A. E. B. Cheal, J. S. Hester, G. M. McDonald, M. O. Bennetts, R. J. Rassie, R. H. King, R. E. Lassen, W. Burns, D. M. Lassen, J. W. Bower, I. Moffat Secretary Mr. S. A. Warbrooke Honorary Treasurer Mr. R. F. Inns Honorary Solicitor Mr. I. Haynes Honorary Auditor Mr. J. Hally Management Committee: Y. Lee (President) R. B. Penberthy (Immediate Past President), W. B. Gear (Chairman), S. A. Warbrooke (Secretary), R. F. Inns (Treasurer), J. Coad, G. Tseung, H. B. Wu Executive Committee: Y. Lee (President) R. B. Penberthy (Immediate Past President), W. B. Gear (Chairman), S. A. Warbrooke (Secretary), R. F. Inns (Treasurer) Selectors: - Senior W. Z. Jiang, S. A. Warbrooke Junior W. Z. Jiang, S. A. Warbrooke Veteran R. F. Inns, S. A. Warbrooke * * * 2019 Auckland Table Tennis Association Supporters The Auckland Table Tennis Association wishes to thank our valued family of sponsors for their invaluable support throughout the 2019 season Sponsors Commute Transportation Consultants Penberthy Insurance Ray White Real Estate – Broadway Anran International (NZ) Ltd. Barfoot & Thompson - Beachlands Clarke Group UNO Property Management 2019 Auckland Table Tennis Association Supporters The Auckland Table Tennis Association wishes to thank the following Community Trusts, Gaming Trusts, Local Boards, and ATEED for their generous support of the Association throughout the 2019 season Community Trusts, Gaming Trusts, Local Boards, & WMG2017 Legacy Fund Blue Sky Community Trust Blue Waters Community Trust Foundation North 2019 Auckland Table Tennis Association Supporters Community Trusts, Gaming Trusts, Local Boards, & ATEED Four Winds Foundation Howick Local Board Maungakiekie-Tamaki Local Board Milestone Foundation North & South Trust NZCT One Foundation Pub Charity Limited The Lion Foundation The Trusts Community Foundation Trillian Trust Waiheke Local Board Auckland Tourism, Events, & Economic Development – WMG2017 Legacy Fund Chairman’s Report 2019 Annual Report 2019 saw a big year of change for the Association in a number of key areas. With a focussed direction and renewed strategy, the Association looked to build and grow our membership base and general participation in table tennis within the Auckland region. The Association undertook the Tables in Communities project which is changing the face of table tennis access throughout the Auckland region by linking table tennis resource with technology in conjunction with a comprehensive development programme. The “Seekapong” app was launched in August 2019 and serves to make more people aware of the number of table tennis opportunities and venues available, and to form a table tennis community of people with the intention to play table tennis and interact together. The app is still in its infancy however the Association has high expectations for its success and the challenge will be to keep developing the app, and growing the number of registrations on the app, in order to meet those expectations. Table availability at the Auckland table tennis stadium on weeknights and weekends is at a premium. The Auckland Interclub competition and Auckland Interschools competition are run over multiple nights. Development coaching programmes, Club activities, Auckland representative squad coaching, and stadium keyholders often have the Auckland table tennis stadium operating at capacity, and it is commonplace for development coaching programmes to be run on 28 tables as opposed to the 20 tables that are employed during competition. Through the Tables in Communities project the Association continues to explore satellite venues to deliver table tennis. To attest to this, the Association assisted in planting two table tennis Clubs during the 2019 season (i.e. Tune Table Tennis Club in Pakuranga, and Waiheke Table Tennis Club). In addition, the Association developed non-traditional partnerships with venues such as Pakuranga Plaza shopping centre, Otahuhu Library, and The Cloud. Further venue partnerships are necessary to meet the ever-growing demand for table tennis across the Auckland region. The growth of the Association’s Facilities Network is a key task within the Tables in Communities project. Eberhard Kleiser, Dinyar Irani, Patrick Low and Shane Warbrooke continue to do exceptional work in delivering our development programmes and this work has led to greater numbers attending the Association’s School Holiday programmes, Clubs, coaching groups, and tournaments. The increase in participation numbers has also led to an increase in stadium keyholder members. The Association continues to explore ways to improve our delivery to enhance the player experience such that all table tennis participants know they are valued members of the Auckland table tennis family and participate in table tennis regularly. With this in mind the Association has looked at ways to enhance the delivery of competitions and events to ensure we cater for the full spectrum of players from social to competitive. To reflect this, the Association has contracted David Jackson as Competitions Manager. David Jackson is a Life Member of the Association and brings a unique set of skills and a vast knowledge built from running regional, national, and international competitions. The Association has committed to adding at least two tournaments to our calendar – the Auckland Max-Play Tournament (July) and the Auckland Spring Open (November). The Association’s premier event – the Auckland Open – continues to grow. Player entries for the 2019 Auckland Open broke the previous player entry number record (which was set during the 2018 season). The number of entries received came with its own challenges in terms of scheduling which meant that the Open Finals session had a late start – but it didn’t disappoint! The 2019 Auckland Open saw two first time winners of the Open Men’s and Open Women’s singles events. Nathan Xu reversed the 2018 result and beat Teng Teng Liu in the final of the Open Men’s singles, and Jin (Kim) Wang beat Kai Peng in the final of the Open Women’s singles. The night was well received courtesy of the many sponsors; Penberthy Insurance, Commute Transportation Consultants, Ray White Real Estate, Barfoot & Thompson, Clarke Group, Anran International (NZ) Limited, and UNO Property Management. Product sponsorship was received from Coca-Cola and ASB Bank. Delivery of the 2019 Auckland Open Finals session was greatly enhanced by MC Chris Herlihy who returned to centre court for the fourth time in conjunction with volunteers from the ActivAsian programme. In 2019 the winner of the prize draw for a free stadium keyholder membership extension was Aurora Lim. The $1,000 cash spot prize draw was won by Frank Liu. The Association adjusted the development coaching pathway through the implementation of additional coaching groups, a greater number of training partners, and appointment of new coaches which in turn led to improved alignment of the pathway to Auckland representation and created a healthy competitive team environment. Auckland team culture throughout the year was strong. Credit for a strong Auckland team culture must go to Auckland Squad Coach Phillip Xiao who took a sabbatical from mid-2019 to pursue an MBA. Phillip Xiao set high standards for coaching, training, and competition and those standards live on through the current Auckland Squad Coaching team; Wei Zhong Jiang, Tianyi Li (departed at the end of the 2019 season), Hyo Joo Lee, Dinyar Irani, and Eberhard Kleiser. Senior players such as Teng Teng Liu and Nathan Xu also model the Auckland team values. This culminated in success for Auckland team members at the 2019 New Zealand Open Table Tennis Championships held in Christchurch where Auckland won a number of events including the Open Men’s A Grade, Open Women’s A Grade, Under 18 Boys’ B Grade, Under 15 Boys’ A Grade, and Under 13 Girls’ A Grade team titles. In addition, there were some notable individual results with the following players winning national singles titles. Teng Teng Liu (Open Men’s), ChunChieh Ting (D Grade Men’s), Nathan Xu (Under 21 Men’s & 18 Boys’), Joanna Yang (Under 15 Girls’ & Under 13 Girls’), Timothy Choi (Under 13 Boys’), Lucas Tian (Under 11 Boys’), and Carrie Guo (Under 11 Girls’). On the international stage, a number of Auckland players continued to impress. Highlights included: - Nathan Xu competing at the 2018 Youth Olympic Games, winning the Open Men’s singles at the 2019 ITTF-Oceania Tour – Vanuatu, and winning the Junior Boys’ singles at the 2019 ITTF-Oceania Junior Championships - Teng Teng Liu winning the Open Men’s singles at the 2019 ITTF-Oceania Tour - New Zealand - Dean Shu winning the Open Men’s singles at the 2019 ITTF-Oceania Tour - New Caledonia (Dean Shu is currently training in Germany) Other players who achieved national representation during the 2019 season included; Annie Chen, Jack Chen, Timothy Choi, Gavin Ding, David Guo, and Allen Zhu.