Noel Shorter Inducted into the TTA Hall of Fame

TTA is pleased to announce that one of Australia’s greatest ever coaches, Noel Shorter, has been inducted into the TTA Hall of Fame in the Coaches category. Noel’s induction ceremony took place online, which can be viewed below:

Background
Noel has been involved in table tennis since 1955. In that time, he has fulfilled many roles, including, but not limited to, player, coach / non-playing captain, businessman, administrator, promoter, national selector, team manager and technical adviser.

Noel was unanimously awarded TTA Life Membership in 2019 for his significant and ongoing contribution to table tennis in Australia across all the roles listed above.

Coach
As the first manager of the Summer Hill Table Tennis Centre in Sydney, Noel was involved in the establishment of a club for juniors which achieved a membership of about 400. Whilst watching the juniors, Noel recognised that they required assistance in developing table tennis skills which then led to his interest in coaching. From this club for juniors, he was approached by a then 13-year-old youngster in 1964 named Paul Pinkewich who wanted to win and be coached. This began a long association with Paul who he coached for almost his entire career, and which also led to a business association.

Along with Paul, Noel coached other young players who went on to win Australian Junior Titles. One of these players was Gary Haberl.

Noel was approached by many players to receive coaching. As these players all lived interstate, Noel encouraged them to move to Sydney where he established the “Elite Training Group”. For this group Noel arranged specialist training in Japan under the guidance of former world champion (later ITTF President), Ichiro Ogimura. Some of these players formed the basis of the team which ultimately reached Number 12 in the World.

In 1971, Noel was appointed Coach and Non-Playing Captain of the Australian Men’s teams playing in the Commonwealth Championships in Singapore and the World Championships in Nagoya, Japan.

Following the World Championships in Nagoya, Noel, as Coach, accompanied the team, comprising Paul Pinkewich, Steve Knapp and Ann McMahon, and the group leader, TTA President, Dr. John Jackson of Adelaide, on the highly publicised “Ping Pong Diplomacy” tour of China. This tour attracted enormous media publicity which the game had never seen before.

After these tours Noel concentrated on privately coaching Paul Pinkewich, Gary Haberl, Dennis Makaling, Russell Lavale, plus Genna Raber before injury cut short his career as a junior.

Success
Noel’s success and achievements as a coach were both significant and sustained. Players who Noel coached, mentored and assisted represented Australia at senior level between 1967 and 2006. Collectively at senior level, these players won 56 international medals, 32 Oceania titles, 132 national titles and 15 Victor Barna Australian Senior Player of the Year awards. Multiple players who Noel coached, mentored and assisted went on to become icons of Australian table tennis, as evidenced by five players becoming TTA Hall of Fame Members and three players becoming TTA Life Members.

A breakdown of the results of players coached, mentored and assisted by Noel can be viewed by clicking here.

Conclusion
Noel has been one of the great contributors to Australian table tennis across every facet of the game. In this instance, his coaching record is truly outstanding, and he sits comfortably in the TTA Hall of Fame (Coaches) alongside previous inductees Eric Coster and Karol Javor.