We are delighted and honoured that Kelly Sibley, the England international table-tennis player, has agreed to become our club President. Kelly began her table-tennis career in our club at the tender age of 7 and stayed with us until she was 12 . She then joined the England set-up.
This weekend Kelly lifted the National Ladies Singles title and added the Ladies doubles for good measure. She was also runner-up in the Mixed doubles. In 2009. Kelly was a bronze medallist in the Ladies doubles at the Commonwealth Games.
We are marking this Presidential occasion by organising a club meal at the Ruby restaurant, Park Street, in Leamington on Thursday 14th April at 7.30 p.m. and we urge players and their families to attend and to make this a great event. Prices are £13.50 for adults and £6-95 for under 13s.
Kelly has agreed to visit all tables, talk to all players, answer any questions and sign autographs. We hope to see you all there because we want it to be an occasion that we all remember. Please e-mail or ring Phil if you wish to reserve places.
It was very gratifying to see so many of our members at the recent club tournament. Hugh and Cherry Matthews do a magnificent job organising these events and it is a great opportunity for our players to get good competition and vital extra practice on our door-step. Eighteen of the trophies on offer ended up in Free Church pockets.
I am bombarded nearly every week by requests to join our club. Obviously there is a limit to the numbers we can take but we are quietly working away through the list. May I remind current members of how important it is to attend club sessions on Saturdays. We do monitor attendance and this will be a factor in what level of table-tennis you are offered next season. The more table time you get and the more competition you have the more likely we are to offer you a higher standard next season.
If you really cannot attend regularly because of school demands, be honest and let us know so that we can give your Saturday coaching place to someone else and perhaps make alternative practise arrangements for you.
We are glad to have welcomed Ashley Knott, Daniel and James Robinson, Jenny and Lewis Singleton, Simran Virdi and James Wilson in recent weeks and we hope they enjoy being in our club family. We would also like to welcome an adult, Paul Finn, who has already played for one of our teams to cover injury and whom we look forward to playing a prominent part in the future.
Phil
