The Chelmsford & District Table Tennis League hosted a Meeting with Alex Murdoch, Chairman of  VETTS (The Veterans English Table Tennis Society) last week to give Alex the opportunity to express his aims, views and vision for the Sport in his campaign to be elected Chairman of the English Table Tennis Association in 2003. The Meeting was attended by Management Committee members of the Chelmsford League together with their counterparts from the Harlow, Braintree and Colchester Leagues.

 

Mr. Murdoch is 58 years old, has four grown-up children, and recently has become a proud Grandfather for the first time. He and wife Val are both keen players and regularly compete in Grand Prix and VETT'S events. In addition to being Chairman of VETTS, arguably the strongest force collectively in English Table Tennis with over 800 members, Alex is actively involved at grass roots level. He is the National Councillor, Treasurer and Secretary for Bedfordshire CTTA and also serves on the Committee of the North Herts TTA. Wife Val is Membership Secretary of VETTS, runs a County and British League team and is Honorary General Secretary of a local League. For the last nine years Alex has run an Internet based Electronic Components Sales business from his home.

   

There can be little question of Alex's commitment to the Sport or his genuine love for it. Alex pointed out that in his opinion, "the Sport is suffering from the fact that the

League-paying membership is still declining alarmingly quickly" and this at a time when the ETTA has over 35 separate Committees that cost £ 57,000 to run last year. He said that the Coaching strategy doesn't seem to have everyone's favour nor does most people's perception of the ETTA Academy. Likewise the poor exposure the sport attracts in the media, poor lines of communication with the ETTA membership, appalling sales of Table Tennis News magazine and the low level of sponsorship obtained in recent years, are all areas which we can ill afford to be satisfied with. 

 

Alex regretted that things might get worse before they improve, saying, "there is no quick fix" to the problems that surround what is after all a minority sport. He assured everyone however that with a team of dedicated, professional and experienced people he would do everything in his power to get the Sport back on a level footing and to project leadership of an open, energetic and caring Management team. To do this he aimed to  re-profile the Management Committee into a leaner, meaner and easier to operate body. He also hoped to be able to present a new strategy to improve the sport's International standing with Funding bodies and to stabilise the ETTA's financial position. Alex felt that the ETTA needed to amend their Coaching focus to offer more to young people starting out in the Sport, and to increase the amount of work that is done for the Grass-roots players. He even suggested that it might be necessary to motivate and rekindle the enthusiasm of the paid ETTA Office staff.

 

Very strong on domestic Table Tennis issues, Alex made the point that he had no wish to see the break-up of the local Leagues in favour of the Premier Clubs. Even though the Premier Clubs may well be the best way forward the League structure is the way that the Sport has operated in this country for 75 years and there is no way it will improve matters to abandon it. The best way forward is to encourage the Premier Clubs to play an integral part in the operation of the Leagues. Likewise when questioned as to whether there are in fact too many ETTA events, Alex pointed put that all these events have a captive market and there shouldn't be any need to take any of them out of the Calendar. Rather, Alex felt the best way forward was to insist that all County matches are played over weekends which will mean that at least five/six more Saturdays will become free over the course of the Season. In what might prove a slightly more controversial statement Alex also said that he held similar views about the British League Premier division being reduced from 14 separate Sundays to a 4 weekend format.

 

Alex reiterated that he had no intention of quitting playing if he is successful in obtaining ETTA Office; and by mixing with players and officials at League and Tournament level he would be able to get a grip of what the Table Tennis public really feel. Alex also honestly reported that if he is elected he is aware that many of the existing ETTA Vice Chairmen might not be prepared to stand alongside him, although he did hope that some members of the ETTA Management Committee might still retain their involvement. 

 

This "Party Political Broadcast" is not meant to carry any bias in favour of either Candidate - Alan Ransome or Alex Murdoch. It is a report for the Chelmsford & District Table Tennis Web-Site, following an invitation to Mr Murdoch to explain to local League Management Committees why he is seeking election as Chairman of ETTA.