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Introduction to the Southend and District Table Tennis League. The Southend & District Table Tennis League (sdttl) was launched in 1927 and is affiliated to the Essex Table Tennis Association (ECTTA) and the English Table Tennis Association (ETTA). Our aim is to provide friendly competition where the main ingredient is good sportsmanship. We no longer have boundaries and will accept any team within reasonable reach of our corner of Essex. In addition to Southend-on-Sea, our League includes teams from Basildon, Benfleet, Canvey Island, Hadleigh, Hullbridge, Rawreth, Rayleigh, Rochford, Wakering and Westcliff. Our league comprises 50 teams playing in 5 Divisions. The Premier Division teams play 18 Games whilst the other Divisions have an additional 9 games playing in a Handicap League. We have 16 Clubs and over 300 players. We also have a knock out Cup Competition called the Rose Bowl Cup, a Closed Championship held every year in February and a Hard bat tournament in November. This season, we are commencing a Southend & District Woolwich Junior League with 12 teams and in excess of 30 youngsters, all with little or no League experience. The teams are from the St. Thomas More High School for Boys, Belfairs High School, Eastwood Community Centre, the South Essex Table Tennis Junior Training Centre (Setts), St. Peters Table Tennis Club, The Hullbridge Table Tennis Club and the Rawreth Table Tennis Club (The Warehouse Centre). The League is supported by one of the strongest Committees in the Country and is some 15 members strong. Comprising: President, Vice President, Chairman, General Secretary, Winter Results Secretary, Treasurer, Competitions Secretary, Inter League Secretary, Coaching Officer, Press Secretary, Web Site Secretary and Development Officer plus 3 General Committee Members. We are represented on the Essex County Table Tennis Association Management Committee. Any new players interested in the League should contact the Secretary, Jayne Johnson email jayne A short History of the Southend & District Table Tennis League The Southend & District Table Tennis League was formed in 1927. It’s first President was local sports icon Arthur Ducat, who represented England at both Football and Cricket and was also a fine Table Tennis player. The new league had 7 teams, each team comprised of 6 players playing one game each, a total of 6 matches, with the first League champions being Naval & Military. Initially our League only included teams from the Borough of Southend, but as time went on, the scope was extended to teams from the Districts of Rochford and Castlepoint, hence the expansion of our name. From 2000 onwards, the AGM have decided to accept teams from outside these areas. Over the years, Southend has had many fine men players and to name but a few we remember Harry Garrett and Bill McCave in the 40s, Wally Hall and Hugh Molloy in the 50s, Mike Watts and Ray Eley in the 60s, Andrew Bawden and Stuart Gibbs in the 70s, Steve Tilson in the 80s and Cris Sladden and Ryan Savill in the 90s. Who will be the stars of the new decade? Essex County Junior Rep players Ben Warner, Neil Disley or Tony Halling, all youngsters who have emerged from the Hullbridge junior training programme run by Howard Grant or another of his protégées; or, someone from Setts run by Paul Reed, Laurie Neville and Lou Hopkins; or the Warehouse Centre run by Cris Sladden or Lou Taylor at the Eastwood Community Centre. We have also had many fine lady players and we recall Winnie Dakin in the 40s and 50s, Maureen Pemberton and Brenda Jones in the 60s, Linda Hales ( Barrow), Linda Budd and Marilyn Bawden (Thacker) in the 70s, Julie Askem in the 80s and Sabine Libeck in the 90s. For the new decade, we already have a star in International junior Natalie Bawden (Daughter of Andrew and Marilyn) and we have promising juniors such as Hullbridge’s, Hannah Cook and Canvey’s Kay Barham. We are hoping that a few more will surface from our four coaching Centres. Southend has always been run by a superb Committee which has been the envy of other Leagues and past key members that are recalled are Ron Aldwich, Harry Gaunt, Peter Edwards, Kath Peer (our President for over 30 years), Mike Taylor, Peter Ballard, Sheila Green, Dave and Ruth Green, Brench and Shirley Moon, Colin Marco and there were many others. A special mention is made of Mike Watts, who many consider was the person who made the most post war impact on local Table Tennis. Mike arrived in the 60s as a top player and an energetic Committee Member. Mike won our Men’s singles title and represented both Southend and Essex. It was however off the table that Mike made such an impact, being the motivating force behind many coaching schemes in the area, plus organising the Southend Open. Mike was also instrumental in bringing to Southend, Essex and England matches. Mike was behind many other things at Southend and was our General Secretary from 1965 to 1973 and our Chairman from 1973 to 1976. Mike then moved upwards to become General Secretary of the ETTA where he organised many top events including the 1998 World Championships. Sadly, Mike passed away in 2002 but he will always be remembered by his many friends and colleagues not only in Southend but throughout the whole country. Southend continue to have a very strong Committee and we strive to be remembered in a similar way to our illustrious predecessors. Well that’s a thumbnail sketch of the history of SDTTL and our apologies go out to those who have done much in the past on and off the table who have not been mentioned. |