OUR HISTORY BROUGHT UP TO DATE

Table Tennis formally came to the Sycamore Centre at St Ann’s in 1978 when the then owners, Nottinghamshire County Council, agreed that it should develop as a Centre of Excellence for Table Tennis. This was in line with its policy in respect of other sports i.e. Gymnastics at Rushcliffe, Balderton for Hockey, Beechdale and Victoria for Swimming.

Equipment was purchased, lighting improved and other investments were made which served Table Tennis in Nottingham very well to a degree where organised coaching, inter-City and County competitions as well as practice and local team competitions took place.

By June 1994 use of the building by the local people was so infrequent that the lower level was offered to Nottingham Table Tennis Association on a permanent basis - this offer was declined. However, a group of volunteer enthusiasts met and formed the new Sycamore Table Tennis Centre. It opened in September 1994 and attracted 70 members.

The ground floor hall, its floor and some equipment were refurbished at a cost of £10,000 in 1995 before the Sports Council officially opened the Centre. In 1997 further improvements were made to include a gym, a canteen and kitchen and a further practice room - at a cost of over £5,000.

The Club subsequently invested over £15,000 by way of grants and its members’ money to provide a Centre that was acknowledged as the best in the City. The prestige that went with that quality of venue was such that the Club could attract England Women’s No.1 (and World ranked player) as a member. People travelled from Rushcliffe, Broxtowe, Gedling, Newark and outside the County to play at Sycamore however 59% of the users lived in the City area.

In 1998 Sycamore Table Tennis Club was proud that John Heppell, the local MP, agreed to be Club President. He was succeeded in 2005 by Sport England East Midland’s Regional Sports Board Chair, Len Jackson OBE.

Things changed in 1999 when plans were laid to convert Sycamore into a Millennium Centre for the communities of St Ann’s and Sneinton. From July of that year table tennis activities were split between the Sports Barn on Hungerhill Road (now the Brendon Lawrence Hall) and the Sports Hall at the National Water Sports Centre, Holme Pierrepont (5 miles away) where the facilities of the English Table Tennis Squad was used.

The Club was pleased when Table Tennis returned to the refurbished first floor of a renewed “Sycamore Millennium Centre” in 2000 and 3 years later, in April 2003, the Club returned all of its activities to its “roots”.

Having developed to over 60 members, with 8 teams competing in the local Nottingham League Sycamore’s reputation and facilities attract an additional 40 or more guest players each year. The Club was first accepted into the English Table Tennis Association’s PremierClub Scheme at Advanced level in January 2002 and continues to attract some of Nottingham’s finest players as well as players ranked highly in England.

In 2007 the Club was voted into the top 2 “Premier Clubs” in the East Midlands Region.

SENIORS AND SOCIAL

Throughout its history there have been many players at Sycamore who have shown a keen interest in daytime sport. The Monday and Wednesday morning sessions attract senior players who may be retired, unemployed, or others who are able to manage their working hours. A sporting relationship with the Knighton Park Club in Leicester has developed into a source of regular competition with a social aspect. The Club has other organised social activities such as a skittles event, Christmas Social, a Table Tennis Demonstration and, in 2006 and 2007, a very popular Citywide Summer League.

NATIONAL AND ELITE PLAY In 2004-5, our 10th Anniversary season, Sycamore entered a senior men’s team and a women’s veterans team into British National Leagues for the first time. That year the “A” team convincingly won Nottingham’s Premier League and did so again in 2005-06 and retained their title once more in 2006-07. Representing the Nottingham League, the team also won the National Team Championships in 2005-06. Following their successes they were promoted from National League Division 1 (North) to the Premier Division where they competed against the best in the Country in 2006-07. Achieving a creditable 4th position against such opposition was remarkable. They were also shortlisted for Nottinghamshire County Council’s “Best Amateur Team” Award, 2006. Following National League successes wider acclaim came when our top men’s team was invited to take part in a European League competition in 2007-08.

DEVELOPMENT AND COACHING

Our three ETTA qualified coaches have experience in helping players of all ages and abilities to reach their potential. In addition to regular Monday evening sessions, the Club is proud to have been asked to coach Nottingham City’s Youth Games squads of 2005 and 2006 and to deliver development programmes to young people from separate City youth clubs in Basford, Forest Fields and also in the Meadows areas.

The Club can call upon some of its elite players to act as practice partners for those with good skills who want to progress further. We have a programme to support and encourage more players to qualify as coaches.

Sycamoretabletennisclub.org.uk, our own Website, was created in 2003 and we were pleased that so many of the clubs fresh introductions came through this source. The site was professionally re-designed in October 2006 to make best use of worldwide exposure.

In 2007, as a result of several months of discussions, the Club announced that it had formed a “School-Club Link” with the Wheldon School at Carlton. Sycamore coaches have created and led an after-school club for their 11-18 year old students starting since March. This will be the only one of its kind in Nottingham and it is hoped that the new initiative will generate a younger interest for the Club and Table Tennis in general.

From 1 March 2007 Sycamore Table Tennis Club has been supported by Tees Sport, the UK importer of Butterfly Table Tennis products. After several months of negotiations a 5-year contract was agreed. This fits directly into the objectives of our Club Action Plan and will be especially helpful in relation to the Wheldon School project when, later in the year, the ETTA releases the details of a National Skills Development Programme that will be sponsored by Butterfly.

Tees Sport will assist the Club in all its equipment needs, support our National League teams, and give special assistance to members when replacing their personal kit.

Sycamore Table Tennis Club continues to develop in line with its Action Plans. Investment in a new “Club Room” has been completed and our portfolio of evidence for recognition by Sport England in its Clubmark programme was submitted on 1 March 2007 and approved in May. Sycamore Table Tennis Club now has full Clubmark Accreditation.

During the spring of 2007 work was undertaken with Bilborough College in Nottingham to create a second “School-Club Link” which will bring the option of Table Tennis, through a coaching and assessment programme, to ‘A’ level PE students. For them, development by way of league competition would be possible and wider benefits to the Club and our sport in Nottingham could follow.

For the latest developments, progress and achievements please check out the “News” and “Competition” pages.