TABLE TENNIS IRELAND – AGM BOOKLET FOUR
Booklet FOUR – AGM 2017
DOCUMENTS
Doc 13 - Ranking Committee report
Doc 14 - Event Unit Report
Doc 15 - Umpires and Referees report
Doc 16 - Irish Veterans Table Tennis Society
Doc 17 - Paper on restructure
Doc 18 - Life Member citations etc.
Doc 19 - Affiliation Paper for discussion
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TABLE TENNIS IRELAND – AGM BOOKLET FOUR
DOCUMENT 13 RANKING COMMITTEE REPORT
SENIOR RANKING COMMITTEE REPORT
INTRODUCTION
Mr. President, Chairman, Ladies and Gentlemen, I am pleased to once again present the
report of the Senior Ranking Committee for the period since the 2016 AGM.
OVERVIEW
The Ranking Committee continued to undertake its two main tasks of 1. Maintaining and
updating the Senior Ranking Scheme and 2. Processing and publishing the ranking lists
following each senior ranking event. The Committee also at time assisted the Events Unit is
seeding the draws for ranking events, particularly where external players were entered.
The Committee consisted of Mr. Rob Cowan as Ranking Master, Mr. David Butler and two
new members, Mr. Ray Egan and Mr. Conor Mullally. The latter declared an interest in the
ranking processes and became Committee members. There was support from the President,
Mr. Ken Strong.
The Committee met on one occasion and had a number of email discussions. Despite the
greatest efforts, it has been unable to arrange another meeting in Dublin.
As reported at the end of last season the Ranking Scheme has been significantly refined. No
changes were made during the year.
A number of senior players and coaches were consulted on what changes they considered
need to be introduced. Some good suggestions were made but to introduce these would
initially require significant work by an IT expert. These are therefore currently on hold. Most
of the suggestions were towards a purely High Performance Scheme. Further feedback from
non-HP players would be needed before any such changes could be considered.
CHANGES SINCE THE 2016 AGM
The collection of results post-ranking tournaments and the preparation of new ranking lists
has been taken over by the office staff. As the staff obtained more expertise and
experienced at preparing the lists, this work has gone more smoothly with few queries by
players and coaches as to the accuracy of the new lists.
The time is approaching to the stage that the Association should introduce a fully electronic
process where tournament referees upload results to the website as they take. Such a step
is likely to prove very expensive to the Association.
A senior player has recently offered his services on the Ranking Committee.
Robert Cowan, Ranking Master
Senior Ranking Committee
20 June 2017
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TABLE TENNIS IRELAND – AGM BOOKLET FOUR
DOCUMENT 14 – EVENT UNIT REPORT
Table Tennis Ireland – Events Unit
Chairman’s Report for the AGM of Table Tennis Ireland 8 July 2017
 Pat McCloughan invited to be Chairman at the beginning of 2017, which he accepted
 Meetings of the Events Unit (via concall)
o 19 January
o 15 March
 Observations to date
o Objectives of the Events Unit – most effective way of running main tournaments,
including the Provincial Opens and the Interpros (Senior and Junior)
o Composition of the EU – should include one member from each of the Provincial
Branches, staff of TTI, members of the Management Committee (High Performance
Director/Chair), Participation Director/Chair, Marketing Director/Chair,
Schools/Children Director/Chair, Competitions Manager, Referee(s), lifters, others –
people would be keen to become involved in the effective running of events
o Timetabling meetings (1 per term – autumn, winter, spring/summer and as needed
o Timetabling and booking of events (well in advance) – Calendar of Events for
2017/2018 has been circulated/agreed
o Issues with Provincial Opens – including venues
o All Ireland Schools – appears to take up a lot of time in organisation
o Collation of data and statistics on events (entries etc.)
o Streamlining of events – possibility of one-day events tailored to entries?; possibility of
combining Senior and Juniors? Prize money at Nationals?
o European Championship Qualification Competition (4-Nations, Dublin 15-16 April 2017)
noted
o Financial position of events 2016/2017 (see overleaf for information provided by TTI,
showing a sizeable deficit in running events for the season past c. €6,500)
o Possibility of tournament sponsorship
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TABLE TENNIS IRELAND – AGM BOOKLET FOUR
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TABLE TENNIS IRELAND – AGM BOOKLET FOUR
DOCUMENT 15 UMPIRES AND REFEREES REPORT
Death of Kiron Choudhury
We offer condolences to the wife and family of Kiron Choudhury who died on 29th May’17. Kiron was
instrumental in setting up the Leinster Umpires Association which became the Irish Umpires and
Referees Association. He was very well liked and respected and, though he was unwell for the past
few years, he will be missed. Those Umpires and Referees who could attend the funeral wore
uniform and formed a Guard of Honour as the coffin left the church. This was much appreciated by
his wife Teresa and the family.
International Umpires
At the end of last season we were awaiting results of the International Umpires exam. I am
pleased to report that all seven candidates were successful. They have already been presented with
their International Badges and Certificates, and some have already done International duty. The new
International Umpires are: Terri McKeon, Adrian and Adam Brown, Arnold Morgan, Jay McAllister,
Arnold Morgan, Jim Sterling and Con O’Ceadaigh.
Referee Training Course
I would like to thank TTI for facilitating a Referee Training course in December 2016.The course was
delivered by Steve Welch, International Referee. Five of the 12 participants passed the exam.
International Competition
The International Event this year was the European Qualifying tournament, which I am happy to say
was won by the Ireland team. This was staged in the new Indoor Sports Arena, which is a wonderful
facility. A team of International Umpires from Belgium officiated, with assistance from Tony Martin,
Con O’ Ceadaigh, Cecelia Armelin and myself.
Tournament Umpiring
The numbers of Umpires at Tournaments was down. Thank you to the regulars who always turn up.
Yellow Cards
There were 19 Yellow Cards issued in Ireland. There were 3 Issued in England, which were reported
to me by an International Referee. I also heard of a card being issued to an Irish player in a
European event, which was seen on U-Tube but not reported to the Association. A list of Yellow
cards is attached. It is of great concern that team captains/ coaches do not report on cards issued to
players outside the country. It reflects badly on Irish Table Tennis.
General
Entries are now meant to be paid on line to TTI before the event. I was assisting at the Junior
Nationals and a few people came to the desk to pay entry fees, but no list of outstanding fees was
provided to the organisers. Is any check done afterwards on these entries, are these paid on line
after the event?
Organisers need a cash float to provide lunch and sundry expenses for Officials who give their time
free and should expect refreshments to be provided. Can a system be put in place to cover this?
I am still awaiting a resolution of the complaint made to the Board in March 2016. I have stopped
umpiring at tournaments pending this resolution. This has impacted on my ability to carry out the
duties of Chairman of the Umpires and Referees committee as I would wish to therefore I will not be
going forward for election until a resolution is reached. I will not be attending the AGM. A chairman
will therefore be needed in order to hold the AGM of the Umpires and Referees Committee after the
Table Tennis Ireland AGM.
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TABLE TENNIS IRELAND – AGM BOOKLET FOUR
Vivienne Barry, Chairman, 6th June 2017
DOCUMENT 16 IRISH VETERANS TABLE TENNIS SOCIETY
IVTTS Secretary’s Report 2016-17.
With enormous help from Wayside TTC, and Terenure Sports Club, we coped with the difficulties in
obtaining a venue for Saturdays. Our thanks to Chair Martin, Treasurer & Ladies coordinator Sharon,
Referees Dave, Norman, Brian Orr, and all who assisted in running our events through the season.
Silver Medal performances from Daryl, Teresa and the Over 60s team at Six Nations were a highlight.
Teresa continues to shine on the VETTS stage in UK. The Colleens put in a great effort in Premier
Division at British League in Derby. That experience will benefit them in another fight for promotion
next season.
Congratulations to all of the worthy winners at our events through the season. Our National
Champions 2017 were Daryl Strong, Annemarie Nugent, Dave Pemberton, and dual winner Tommy
Caffrey. Great to see so many new members, especially the large number of Ladies who have
competed this year.
AGM 2017: Gratitude was expressed to the members of Wayside TTC for their assistance with a
venue for Saturdays and for the refreshments provided. Staging events at Pobalscoil Iosolde in
Palmerstown next season will be attempted. The efforts of Leinster Branch in this regard are greatly
appreciated. The larger venue should facilitate consolation events for most categories. Our Ulster
event will be staged at Ballymena.
The following were elected as officers:
Chairman Martin Pickles; Treasurer Sharon Brien Gibbons; Secretary Brian Finn.
Delegates: Philip Shaw, Dave Gibbons, Terry Dolan, Norman Nabney.
We appreciate all of the assistance that Ted Bollard and Celtic Table Tennis have provided through
the season. The staff at Table Tennis Ireland were very helpful also.
Our best wishes to all of our members who are coping with serious illness at this time.
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TABLE TENNIS IRELAND – AGM BOOKLET FOUR
DOCUMENT 17 PAPER ON RESTRUCTURE
Introduction
Table Tennis Ireland, like other sports, relies on volunteers and professional staff. While ambitious
for growth and success, TTI recognises the challenges in attracting volunteers and in managing a
professional staff. This paper proposes changes to the structure of TTI. The proposal already falls
within the Company Constitution, so no vote of the AGM is necessary, but comments and feedback
are vital.
The Challenge with the Current Structure
We know that we have a mix of volunteers’ skills available. We have table tennis expertise and we
have business expertise, often volunteers have one or the other, not both. Also, some volunteers are
attracted purely by the table tennis element of the sport and have little interest in the governance
and business side. There are others who know that their best contribution would be in the area of
Governance.
The current Board deals with Strategic, Governance, Operational and Table Tennis issues, amongst
other things. There are monthly meetings by phone and in person. These meetings can have very
long agendas and can run from 6.30pm to 11pm with a mix of issues being discussed. For some
Board members, not all of the meeting seems relevant to their technical area. It is also difficult to
focus on Governance when pressing and complex table tennis issues need to be addressed.
Some volunteers are discouraged from taking table tennis roles by governance responsibility.
There are improvements that can be made to the structure of the professional staff, but these are
not the subject of this paper. Any changes to the office structure should be designed to work well
with the new organisational structure discussed in this paper.
Proposal
It is proposed to divide the organisation into two area i.e. a professional Board focused on
Governance and Strategy and a Management Committee focused on table tennis issues. Each person
on the Management Committee will have subcommittee specific to their subject area. Branches will
be expected to provide one representative to each subcommittee. Also, other experts can be
adopted onto the sub-committees.
The benefits are
1) Table tennis experts on the management committee will not have to deal with Governance
and Strategic level issues, although their input on strategy will be vital
2) The Board will have a clear focus on governance and strategy and will not be distracted by
the myriad of table tennis issues that arise
3) The subcommittees will allow work to be done and will ensure that all branches are involved
4) There is a good development path for people who initially join a branch as a volunteer
See diagrams below
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TABLE TENNIS IRELAND – AGM BOOKLET FOUR
Board of
Directors
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Management
Committee
Sub
Committees
Chair
Chair
Company
Secretary
High
Performance
High
Performance
Finance
Participation,
Clubs, WIS
Participation,
Clubs, WIS
Commercial
Events
Events
Human
Resources
Marketing
and
Promotion
Marketing
and
Promotion
Paralympics
Paralympics
Schools
Schools
Disciplinary
and Anti
Doping
Disciplinary
and Anti
Doping
Coaching
Coaching
TABLE TENNIS IRELAND – AGM BOOKLET FOUR
Board of
Directors
Management
Committee
Sub
Committees
• Meets 4 times a year
• Focus on Governance and Strategy
• Child protection Officer reports in
• Allocates Budget
• Measures progress against agreed strategy
• Deals with escalated issues, in exceptional cases
• Meets Monthly - called Managers
• Focus on table tennis and Operational issues
• Devises Annual Operational Plan based on Budget
• Works within allocated Budget
• Coordinates Efforts and agrees where staff and resources
should be focused
• Reports status to the Board twice a year
• May include office staff member
• Meets as necessary
• Each subcommittee chaired by Manager
• Branches to provide one person for each sub committee
• Focus on actions and gatering feedback
• Task Orientated
• Experts invited to join also
Risks
The obvious challenge is filling the 14 positions and 8 sub committees. Should this prove difficult, the
focus should be on filling the Board first, as this is where the statutory responsibility arises. It could
mean reducing the scope of activity at TTI, but it will ensure continuity of the organisation.
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TABLE TENNIS IRELAND – AGM BOOKLET FOUR
DOCUMENT 18 LIFE MEMBER CITATIONS ETC.
AWARD OF HONORARY LIFE MEMBERSHIPS
This award is the highest distinction which can be given by Table Tennis Ireland and is never
lightly awarded. It is not made for length of service alone but for outstanding service and is
restricted to those who have given this service at national and provincial levels.
A nominee must:
a. Be over the age of 65 years, but exceptions may be made
b. Have served the Association credibly in a voluntary capacity either at Board or
exceptionally at Branch level for a minimum period of 20 years; service may not
necessarily be continuous
c. Be in good standing with the Association
The nomination of a person or persons as Honorary Life Members will be the President, Life
President or Deputy Life President. Such nominees must be approved by a majority of the
Board and the President and one of either the Life or Deputy Life President to receive the
Award.
The Board recently approved the nominations of Miss Anna Kelly and Tony Phillips as
Honorary Life Members and their profiles are attached to this document.
TTI President Ken Strong said about the nominations:
“Anna and Tony have made very important and significant contributions to the sport over
many years both at national and provincial levels. Many of us who have known them for
many years are fully aware of their long periods of service. On behalf of the members I
congratulate them on their appointment as Life Members.”
The awards will be presented at the ITTA CLG Annual General Meeting on Saturday 8 July
2017.
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TABLE TENNIS IRELAND – AGM BOOKLET FOUR
HONORARY LIFE MEMBER
MISS ANNA KELLY
Anna Kelly served the Irish Association at both Leinster Branch and Senior and Junior Management
levels for a number of years. She became involved with the Business Houses League in Dublin, firstly
as a player for Guinness, then as a Committee member and eventually as Secretary some 40 years
ago.
She then served on the Leinster Branch for many years and became Treasurer. This led to her being
elected to serve on ITTA Management and ITTA Treasurer, the latter position she held for more than
10 years. She has been a member of the Association’s Disciplinary Committee for many years and a
Vice President of the Association.
Anna began coaching and became National Junior Coach. She attended several European Youth
Championships and for the first couple of years she was the only female coach from any nation
represented at the Championships. She was also elected and served as an Irish Senior and Junior
Selector, being a member of both Senior and Junior Selection Committees.
Anna became involved in event organisation at local, national and international levels. She served a
number of times on the organising committee of the International Schools Events when they were
held in Ireland. Other events she was heavily involved in were the World Veterans Championships
when they took place in Dublin in 1992 and the Special Olympics World Games in Dublin in 2003. She
is an ITTA qualified umpire.
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TABLE TENNIS IRELAND – AGM BOOKLET FOUR
HONORARY LIFE MEMBER
TONY PHILLIPS
TONY has had a lifetime of involvement in sport with Table Tennis being his main chosen
sport. Since he came to Northern Ireland Tony became very involved in the organisation and
coaching of Table Tennis initially in Ulster and then at Irish level at schools and underage
levels.
Tony’s involvement in sport commenced after his daughter Deborah began playing at Glenburn Club
in Belfast in 1982. A few years later he began assisting at top tables in the major competitions in
Ulster, finally taking over the running of Ulster Junior Events in about 1990 and then Ulster Senior
events in about 2000.
In 1986, he set up the very successful Table Tennis Club at RBAI where he was Vice Principal.. The
Club had a number of highly skilled players which included Jonny Cowan, Wai-Sun Chan, Patrick
Brown and Ryan Glass all of whom went on to represent Ireland at World and European
Championships.
In 1989 Tony took over the running of the Ulster secondary schools competitions. These included the
Individual Championships at Ulster and then at All Ireland level. The latter attracted a very large
entry.
He also chaired the All Ireland Sub-Committee that reviewed and drew up the regulations for both
Primary and Secondary All-Ireland Schools Team Championships.
Tony became a member of the Ulster Branch as Schools Secretary and served in various other
capacities until this year 2017 when he was appointed as Honorary Life President of the Branch. His
work included compiling Junior Ranking lists, editing and producing an ever-growing list of policies
required by Sport NI, representing the Branch in negotiations with Sport NI, and acting as Equality
Officer. He also served in various roles associated with the Irish Association.
He brought his experience of running major events in other sports to bear on Table Tennis events.
The ITTA appointed Tony as an Honorary National Referee in 2012. He was the NI Sports Council’s NI
Schools Coach of the Year in 1992 and was then awarded the Joe Veselsky Award for Service to Sport
by the ITTA in 2004. He was also awarded the MBE by the British Government for “Services to Youth
Sport in Northern Ireland”. He has been a Vice President of the Association for many years.
Tony was Team Manager for the Northern Ireland Schools Team in Glasgow at the 2006 inaugural UK
School Games, and in the following years took teams to Coventry, Bath, Cardiff, Newcastle and
Sheffield. He also served on the UKSG Advisory Committee.
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TABLE TENNIS IRELAND – AGM BOOKLET FOUR
DOCUMENT 19 AFFILIATION PAPER FOR DISCUSSION
Introduction
Table Tennis Ireland is a member association and members must be affiliated.
The affiliation scheme at TTI is important to the organisation. This paper is provided as a
consultation paper to the AGM for comment and direction. This paper combines the work of several
people with an interest in the area along with feedback received. The AGM is the first time this
paper has been made available to the general membership for comment. Following the AGM, it is
proposed to form a sub-committee to develop and adopt a new affiliation scheme.
In considering change, we should review the reasons for an Affiliation Scheme. These are:
1)
2)
3)
4)
5)
To raise money for the operation TTI
To have evidence of the size of TTI for funding bodies and sponsors
To allow TTI to better plan its operations and priorities
To allow TTI to communicate directly with its members
To encourage a culture of community and association amongst members
Rationale for change
Challenges
The Association raises roughly $15,000 from its members through affiliations. It receives roughly ten
times that from Irish Sports Council (ISC) funding. As a comparison, Badminton Ireland receives twice
its affiliation income as a grant from ISC. Were the ISC to provide the same ratio of funding to TTI
(twice affiliation income rather than ten times affiliation income), it would set us back 20 years.
There would simply not be enough to operate TTI properly. There are several reasons for the low
affiliation income including:
1) The numbers active in the sport seems to be declining
2) There appear to be many active in the sport who do not affiliate
The high rate of non-affiliation undermines not only income, it also undermines our ability to
provide evidence of numbers for ISC funding and for sponsorship. Furthermore, it makes planning
and communications difficult.
Table Tennis is an Olympic Sport. However, if we do not manage to increase affiliation numbers and
income, we may find that Table Tennis in Ireland becomes little more than a parish hall game.
A key question is why some players do not affiliate. It appears that some people see no personal
benefit in affiliation. They do not feel any ownership in the national team, they do not see the work
of TTI in areas such as Governance, they do not feel a drive to develop and grow the sport – they are
content to play in their club or local league and feel that, if TTI disappeared, there would be no
difference to them.
Another question is why our numbers are declining. The Affiliation Scheme cannot tackle all of the
challenges TTI faces, but it must take these into account.
We must recognise the advantages Table Tennis has over other sports. Inclusivity for para players
(you will never see wheelchair basketball players against able bodied basketball players, but in Table
Tennis you see that all the time and think nothing of it), the way the game can be played at any age
and the great social aspect to the game. These strengths, along with the high profile of the game at
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TABLE TENNIS IRELAND – AGM BOOKLET FOUR
Olympics and the fact that almost everybody has played Table Tennis at some stage in their life,
makes this sport very attractive. So, we have some natural advantages.
Changes Recommended
1) Rebrand the Affiliation Scheme as a Membership Scheme – banish the word affiliation! For
younger people the term affiliation has little meaning.
2) Identify and communicate our Value Proposition – what do I get from being a member
3) Increase the benefits of membership where possible
4) Revisit the categories of membership, especially to capture those at the lower end of
membership – for instance , players who just play in their club
5) Ensure the system is fully online and that it captures the data we need to operate and plan
6) Revisit the fees to make them attractive to lower level players and ensure a fair charge for
those who benefit most from membership
7) Agree and implement clear and strong penalties for those benefitting from TTI who refuse to
become paid up members
8) Formally deal with the affiliation of associations, leagues, clubs, schools etc.
9) Implement an incentive scheme to
a. Encourage membership
b. Allocate funds locally based on membership numbers locally
The sections below seek to provide a base position from which further analysis can begin and
feedback at the 2017 AGM will be appreciated.
Affiliation Rule Changes
Affiliation categories will be as follows, replacing the previous categories
Category
Official
Description
An official of the Association such as
a volunteer, Board member, referee
or umpire
Coach
An active coach, whether qualified
or not
School Player
A child playing in school only (even if
school not affiliated) or on the
school team where that school is
affiliated
Encompassing players who are WIS,
or play challenger events only, or
who play only within their club
recreationally
A player of any age who plays in
non-national branch tournaments
e.g. Leinster Closed events
Community
Player
Regional Player
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Why
This is separated out from Coach as, in
the future, there may be different
charges for each, so this gives
maximum flexibility
See above. It may be useful to have an
extra category of ‘Approved Coaches’ –
those that are qualified and certified
appropriately and are listed on TTI
website for hire – future issue
We want to capture the numbers here
so that we can show our success to ISC.
Raising funds is not the priority, or
even possible, in this category
These are players who often do not
affiliate, especially people who just pay
socially in their club. Again, the fee
should be low to encourage affiliation
The idea here is that Regional and
national players are quite different.
Regional players work mainly with their
Branch ad get less benefit from TTI
than National players, and hence
should pay less.
TABLE TENNIS IRELAND – AGM BOOKLET FOUR
National
Underage
Player
An underage player aged less than
18 years at time of affiliation, and
playing in National and Regional
events
National Adult
Player
An adult player aged 18 years or
older at time of affiliation and
playing in National and Regional
events
A club affiliated to TTI and subject to
the rules of TTI, including affiliation
rules for its members. When
registered/adopted, an Affiliated
club will be required to adhere to
certain standards.
Club Affiliation
League
Affiliation
Association
Affiliation
School or
University
Affiliation
Associate
Member
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National Players gain the most from TTI
, but this underage category is to
recognise that these players are
generally not working and rely on
parental funding
See above
The drive for Club Development over
the next few years will formalise the
relationship between clubs and TTI.
Clubs gain a lot from membership of
TTI, for instance the possibility of tables
under the capital grant. A modest
charge is appropriate and helps to
formalise the relationship.
A League affiliated to TTI and subject As above
to the rules of TTI including
affiliation rules for its players. When
registered/adopted, an Affiliated
League will be required to adhere to
certain standards
An association affiliated to TTI and
As above.
subject to the rules of TTI including
Also, Associations may become a new
affiliation rules for its players. The
way of attracting membership. The
relationship between the TTI and an success of Veterans Table Tennis is a
affiliated association will be agreed
great example. It is foreseeable that
between the parties in a
other groups might form associations.
Memorandum of Understanding. An One could imagine, for example, a
association will be more than a club Polish Players Association or a Para
or group of clubs. It will be a group
players Association – both of which
of people with a common interest in might attract more players to our
Table Tennis and some other
game. We need to be in apposition to
common interests or attributes e.g.
formalise links with these associations
a Women’s Association or a Schools’
Association – TTI will retain the right
to recognise an association or not.
Any educational establishment
It would be fantastic if we could rewhich participates in School or
establish a national Schools association
intervarsity events
as the success of various regional
schools leagues is often unnoticed.
Having a membership category helps to
formalise arrangements.
A parent or other person, not active This is a category to increase numbers
in Table Tennis, not matching any
for reporting reasons. While members
other category e.g. not a coach or
in this category as not playing or
official
coaching, they are very interested in
the sport and supporting others to
participate or they may be retired from
the sport.
TABLE TENNIS IRELAND – AGM BOOKLET FOUR
Fees – for discussion
Category
Official
Coach
School Player
Community Player
Regional Player
National Underage player
National Adult Player
Club Affiliation
League Affiliation
Association Affiliation
School or University Affiliation
Associate Member
Annual Fee
€20
€20
€2
€5
€20
€30
€40
€50
€0
€0
€50
€0
Rules and Penalties
1. If more than one affiliation category applies, then the category with the highest cost applies
e.g. a National Player who is also a Coach will pay the higher fee and join under that
category.
2. An affiliated club must ensure, including by adopting appropriate procedures, that all club
members or people who play at the club are affiliated to TTI within three months of joining
the club.
3. An unaffiliated player will not be allowed to play in any event organised, operated or funded
in any way by TTI, any Branch, any Affiliated Association, any Affiliated Club or any Affiliated
League. The event organiser is responsible to verify that all entrants are affiliated prior to
commencement of play and to ensure adequate steps are taken to enforce this rule. Where
an organisation facilitates an unaffiliated player to play in one of these events, that
organisation will be liable to pay the affiliation fee for the member.
4. A club or Association that fails to take all reasonable steps within its means to ensure its
members are affiliated will forfeit its status as an affiliated club. That club’s TTI affiliated
members may be notified by TTI of the status change for the club and these rules.
5. No affiliated person may be a member of an unaffiliated table tennis club, table tennis
league or table tennis association or take part in any activity organised by that club, table
tennis league or table tennis association.
6. The penalty for knowingly breaching the above rule may include suspension of playing rights
or affiliation, removal of eligibility for TTI or Branch team selections or, for repeated
offences, may include exclusion from TTI for one year.
7. Unaffiliated Clubs will not be approved to hold Challenger, WIS or other branch or TTI
approved events and will not receive any funding from TTI, unless part of a programme
intended to develop and affiliate that club.
8. Affiliation fees will be effective for 12 months from the date of affiliation and that date is the
renewal date thereafter.
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TABLE TENNIS IRELAND – AGM BOOKLET FOUR
Incentive Rebates
In order to facilitate greater local organisation of Table Tennis and also to facilitate participation by
more players and to build the affiliated membership, TTI will provide, as an incentive, rebates as
described below to Branches, Leagues and Associations.
The following rebates are always subject to the financial situation and judgement of the TTI Board.
However, where funds are available, and where the Board, at its discretion decides to rebate:
Rebates will be paid by bank transfer each January, based on the affiliation data in GoMembership at
the end of the previous year



Branches will receive up to 35% of the affiliation fees collected from members in their
Branch area
Affiliated Leagues will receive up to 15% of affiliation fees collected from players in their
league
Affiliated Associations will receive up to 15% of affiliation fees collected from players in their
association
Disbursement of grants such as tables from Capital Grants etc. will be targeted towards Affiliated
Clubs, Leagues and Associations. The only exception will be where a new club, league or association
is being established with a view to it being affiliated.
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