CEO's Message: 2021 Review

As 2021 comes to a close, it’s important to reflect on some of the achievements throughout the year. Although 2021 was hampered again by COVID-19, particularly in NSW and Victoria, as a whole table tennis continues to fare much better than most other sports. Play continued throughout the year (unless lockdowns were in place) and the ‘new normal’ became embedded across the country. Ironically, given the ongoing travel difficulties, the biggest achievements of 2021 came on the international stage. Highlights from 2021 include, but are not limited to:

HIGH PERFORMANCE:

• Australia enjoyed a record breaking Tokyo Paralympic Games, with 11 athletes qualifying to compete and the team claiming 2 gold and 4 silver medals and finishing second on the table tennis medal tally, only behind China. Medals were achieved by: Qian Yang (Gold Class 10 Women’s Singles), Lina Lei (Gold Class 9 Women’s Singles), Sam von Einem (Silver Class 11 Men’s Singles), Ma Lin (Silver Class 9 Men’s Singles), Qian Yang/Lina Lei/Melissa Tapper (Silver Class 9-10 Women’s Teams), Ma Lin/Joel Coughlan/Nathan Pellissier (Silver Class 9-10 Men’s Teams). Moreover, team member Danni Di Toro had the honour of being named as Co-Captain of the Australian Paralympic Team.
• A group of 8 Australian athletes together with John Murphy (National Head Coach – Able-Bodied) undertook a hugely successful European Tour winning 9 gold, 3 silver and 5 bronze medals. As a result, big improvements in world rankings were realised, most notably Yangzi Liu reaching number 6 in Under 19 Girls and Nicholas Lum reaching number 8 in Under 17 Boys.
• Australia qualified the maximum quota of athletes for the Tokyo Olympic Games, with Jian Fang Lay competing in a record equalling sixth Olympic Games and equalling the best ever Women’s Singles result by an Australian by winning through to the fourth round. Along the way she defeated former European Champion Li Qian.
• National Squad training continued to go from strength to strength, with record training hours continuing to be offered in Melbourne and Sydney.
• Player of the Year awards went to: Jian Fang Lay (Senior – Victor Barna Memorial Trophy), Qian Yang (Para – Arthur Wilks Award), Nicholas Lum (Junior – Michael Szabados Award).
• Eva Jeler has been undertaking a Coach Development Program with six identified coaches from around Australia, namely: Hongbo Liang (NSW), George Logothetis (Queensland), Franck Roguiez (Queensland), Maggie Meng (Victoria), Peter Tretinik (Victoria) and Ajay Suwal (Western Australia).

PARTICIPATION AND DEVELOPMENT:

• The TTA Equipment and Facilities Grant Program was successfully rolled out for a fourth straight year. 13 clubs/associations from 6 States/Territories received grants, which resulted in more than $114,000 worth of equipment and facilities being injected into the table tennis community. Cumulatively across the four years of the program, more than $354,000 worth of equipment and facilities has been distributed to 54 clubs/associations across all 8 States/Territories.
• 13 outstanding contributors to the sport were honoured through the National Volunteer Awards Program. Greg Bungey (SA) had the honour of being awarded the Bev and Brian James Trophy as the 2021 National Volunteer of the Year.
• Membership rebounded strongly to pre-COVID-19 levels, with the 10,000 member mark being surpassed.
• Overall participation rebounded strongly to approach pre-COVID-19 levels, with more than 125,000 expected to be realised when the 2021 census wraps up.
• Our entry level program, Spinneroos, continued to be rolled out at both club and school level throughout Australia, including some new initiatives such as Girls Only Spinneroos.

NATIONAL EVENTS:

• The National Hopes Week & Challenge was a huge success, with a record 60 players from 7 States/Territories attending. This event continues to lay the foundation for the next generation of Australian players and will continue to be a key focus moving forward.
• The inaugural TTA Tour – Sydney event was successful, with more than 150 participants and nearly 300 individual event entries. With singles events being held from Men’s/Women’s through to Under 11 Boys’/Girls’, plus Para events, the formula for this pilot event appears to be right and TTA is looking forward to expanding the TTA Tour in 2022.
• Unfortunately, the National Senior, Youth, Junior and Para Championships, plus the National Veterans Championships and the TTA Tour – Melbourne all had to be cancelled due to COVID-19.

RECOGNITION INITIATIVES:

• Undertook the Official Australian Representatives (Para) project, which identified the 73 men and 29 women who have represented Australia at senior level in para competitions, including identifying the complete career record for each athlete.
• 4 icons of Australian table tennis were inducted into the TTA Hall of Fame: Karol Javor (Coaches – posthumously), Fran Keyhoe (Referees and Umpires – posthumously), Graeme Ireland (Referees and Umpires; Administrators) and David Delpratt (Referees and Umpires).
• The 50^th anniversary of the Ping Pong Diplomacy Tour was celebrated on 21 April. The three surviving members of the team, Noel Shorter, Paul Pinkewich and Steve Knapp came together to celebrate the occasion.
• The Top 10 National Rankings lists from 1948-2020 were collated and published.
• TTA’s oldest Life Member, Cecil Shaw, celebrated his 100^th birthday on 27 August. TTA presented Cecil with a National Team shirt with the wording ‘100 NOT OUT’ on the back to mark the occasion.
• The history of the first ever National Championships in 1933 was collated and published.

GOVERNANCE AND FINANCE:

• TTA’s governance rating through the Sport Australia Mandatory Sports Governance Principles Assessment reached a record high. TTA achieved a score of 3.2 out of 4.0, which is significantly higher than other similar sized sports (2.7) and all other sports combined (2.9).
• For the first time, TTA entered into MOUs with 5 State/Territory Associations, namely: Table Tennis ACT, Table Tennis NSW, Table Tennis Northern Territory, Table Tennis Tasmania and Table Tennis Western Australia. Through the MOUs, each party has clearly defined roles and responsibilities and TTA is able to provide a direct financial contribution for the first time ever. TTA is hopeful that MOUs with the remaining State/Territory Associations will be finalised in 2022.
• A fourth consecutive surplus will be achieved and TTA cash reserves are approaching $500,000. This further underlines the strength of TTA’s financial reforms and financial management over the past four years, where our business model has continued to stack up under difficult circumstances.
• Australia has significantly increased its reach within ITTF, with multiple people being elected/appointed to key ITTF positions, namely: Graham Symons (ITTF Executive Committee as a Vice President), Graeme Ireland and Scott Houston (ITTF Board of Directors), Alan Hopkins (ITTF Umpires and Referees Committee), Scott Houston (ITTF Veterans Committee).

I offer sincere thanks to everyone who has contributed to our great sport throughout the year; your contribution is both recognised and appreciated. Wishing you all a very merry Christmas and a happy new year. Here’s to a successful 2022!

Scott Houston
Chief Executive Officer
Table Tennis Australia Ltd.