History
|
|
|
History
|
|
|
Southern Tasmanian Table Tennis
Association Inc
History
by
Chris Hooper, Hon Secretary, May 2003 Table
tennis began in Hobart just over 100 years ago, at the turn of the 19th
– 20th centuries. It grew steadily in popularity but developed in a
haphazard fashion. The penholder grip was used almost exclusively and the tennis
system of scoring was optional for pennant and championship play. Many top
players dressed in tennis “whites”. The hard wooden bats were usually
covered with pimpled rubber or sand paper. Officials
in Tasmania and throughout the world strove to establish table tennis as a
recognised sport. This was difficult as people thought of table tennis as the
“ping pong” that was played as a social hobby. In
Hobart an association was formed in 1935 from clubs playing a social and
business houses roster. The following year it was named the Tasmanian Table
Tennis Association (TTTA). The
first Tasmanian Championships were played at the Postal Institute, Hobart on 3-4
August 1936. There were four events: men’s and women’s open singles, men’s
junior singles for players under nineteen and a novice singles. There were 25
players in the Men’s Singles, 20 in the Women’s Singles and 12 in the
Men’s Junior singles. Doubles events were not included in the programme until
the following year. A
number of separate clubs, playing in their club premises or in rented halls,
played in rosters. These clubs were located around Hobart and some, including
Wellington, Riaweena, Liberals and Wivenhoe, fielded a number of teams in
Association rosters. Men’s and Women’s ‘A’ Grade and Reserve ‘A’
grade matches were played at St James Hall, New Town and other grades were
played at the Sandy Bay Rowing Club and business house club venues - the Postal
Institute, Walch’s, ES&A Bank, Govt Printer, AMP and Working Men’s Club.
In
these early years a number of famous players visited Tasmania, including
ex-world champion ‘Michael’ Szabados and ‘Steven’ Kelen of Hungary, in
1937[1];
ex-world champion Victor Barna and Laszlo Bellak, of Hungary, in 1938; Barna and
ex-world champion R Bergman, in 1949; and Johnny Leach and Frenchman M Haganauer
in 1951. It was after the visit of Szabados and Kelen in 1937 that players
started using the shake hands grip and playing games up to 21 points, which was
the recognized scoring system. In
1959 the Tasmanian Table Tennis Association established its headquarters on the
first floor of the building on the south-east corner of Collins and Campbell
Streets, a large, cold building with barred windows and a bitumen floor. There
were eight tables. One player remembers mainly the unpleasant changing rooms and
the smelly toilets! In spite of the conditions, during the years at Campbell
Street table tennis was alive and well. Players continued to represent their
clubs but all rosters were held at Campbell Street. There were both men’s and
women’s winter and spring pennants in various grades and also schools’
teams. In
1963 it was considered that the game was sufficiently well established in all
centres of the State to alter the constitution to provide for a Tasmanian
Council to govern the sport in Tasmania. A new state body was formed
incorporating the North and North West. The “old” TTTA became the Southern
Tasmanian Table Tennis Association (STTTA). The STTTA affiliated with the
“new” TTTA which in turn affiliated with the national body, Table Tennis
Australia. Championships
and rosters continued to be well supported. The STTTA held several championships
each year and it was reported in the 1971 annual report that there were 91
players in the City of Hobart Championships. The Association spent much time and
energy on junior table tennis and in 1968, for example, there were 63 schools’
teams, representing every High School in the Hobart area. Many STTTA players
represented Tasmania at National Men’s, Women’s and Junior Championships. Better
premises were needed and finally, after various sites had been considered, an
agreement was made with Kingborough Council to build a table tennis stadium at
one end of the Kingborough Sports Centre in Kingston. The stadium was completed
in mid 1979, with ten tables, tiered seating, an administration office and a
tournament control area. The stadium was officially opened on 20 October 1979.
Since that time only minor improvements have been necessary. After
the move to Kingston, STTTA members were mainly from the southern part of the
city. Table tennis centres developed on the Eastern Shore (Eastside) and
Northern Suburbs (Northern Suburbs Table Tennis League) to cater for players in
those areas. The STTTA rosters continued, but players were allocated to teams
according to their standard -
they no longer represented clubs. The
schools roster was extended to primary schools in 1980 and a seniors autumn
roster, in addition to the winter and spring rosters, commenced in 1981. Since
the early 1980s the number of roster players has remained steady, after an
initial increase in veterans numbers. Additional activities (a pre-autumn roster
and December events) were introduced in 1999, making table tennis a year-round
activity at the Centre. The
driving force in table tennis in Tasmania for over 40 years, from about 1940,
was Laurie Wharmby. Laurie had executive roles on the Southern Tasmanian,
Tasmanian and Australian Associations during this period. He was a most
accomplished and highly regarded table tennis administrator. He was awarded the
Medal of the Order of Australia in 1986 for his contribution to table tennis and
community activities. Various
national championships have been held in Tasmania. In the early years the lack
of a Centre did not deter the STTTA, on behalf of the TTTA, from hosting
national championships. The Association conducted the Australian National
Championships in 1952, 1962, 1968 and 1974. As the Association did not have its
own centre, venues such as the City Hall and Southern Tasmania Badminton Centre,
South Hobart were used. Australian junior teams championships were held in
Hobart in 1961, 1965 and 1968. Several
Australian Championships have been held at the Kingborough Sports Centre, the
home of the STTTA since 1979. Tasmania pioneered veterans competitions and held
the first National Veterans Championships in 1984. Other national championships
hosted by the STTTA have included the Australian Open Table Tennis Championships
(1980), Australian Junior Championships (1981), Australian Closed and Open
Championships (1985), Australian Closed Championships (1992) and the Australian
Veterans Championships in 1998. Highlights
for Tasmanian players have been -
Denise Horder (née Millikan) won the National Women’s Singles in 1980,
becoming the first Tasmania player to win an Australian title. She had already
won the Tasmanian Open singles title ten times in succession. -
The State Under 15 girls team (Benita Huskins, Krystel Banasik, Julia
Banasik), all STTTA players, was undefeated at the National Junior Championships
in 1994. Junior table tennis was strong at this time, largely due to the
appointment of a State Development Officer, Peter Ma Sen, in 1989. Peter’s
appointment finished in 1997. Coaching
is now offered intermittently, assisted by grants from the State Dept of Sport
and Recreation. A holiday program is offered in the August school holidays. The
seniors, veterans and school children’s rosters have continued to be the
mainstay of the STTTA’s activities. There are normally three divisions in
seniors, three in veterans and four in the schools roster. The
STTTA hosts the Southern Open Championships and the Tasmanian Open Championships
each year. Over the years, however, the number of championship entries has
declined. The Tasmanian Veterans and the Tasmanian Closed are normally hosted by
other associations. The
STTTA also participates each year in the State League, a competition between the
associations in the State. Each association fields junior, senior and veterans
teams. In
administration, several STTTA members have served on committees of Table Tennis
Australia and officiated on a national and international level. Neil Harwood and
Maureen Sherman have been particularly prominent in recent years. Neil Harwood
was Section Manager of the Australian Olympic Table Tennis team in 1988, 1992
and 1996 and Tournament Director (Table Tennis) at the Sydney 2000 Olympics. He
is currently (2003) President of the Oceania Table Tennis Federation and
Vice-President of the International Table Tennis Federation. Maureen Sherman has
represented Australia as an umpire at several international events, including
the World Veterans Championships in Melbourne in 1994. She will be an official
umpire at the South Pacific Games in July 2003. The
Association has continued to have its premises at the Kingborough Sports Centre
and in May 2003 was negotiating a further lease with Kingborough Council, to
continue to 31/12/2020. References
“Table
tennis -
a sport on the way up” . “The
Mercury” Northside News, February 6, 1969 Stennard,
Ian. “In the beginning …”.
Programme of the Tasmanian Open Championships, 1986. Stennard,
Ian. “The way it was”.
Programme of the 48th Annual Open Tasmanian Table Tennis
Championships, 1987 Minutes
of meetings of the Southern Tasmanian Table Tennis Association |