Alex, together with his wife Valerie - both accomplished players in their own rights - were the guests of the Baddow Village Club (see Press Report 9 August) and were particularly interested in the junior coaching activities. They took time to play with some of the juniors and offer words of encouragement to those attending the beginners coaching session. Stressing that they should aim to have fun as they learned to play. Then they took off on a hectic round of challenge doubles matches, taking on all comers to a one-off game of doubles, dropping just two ends in the process. Whilst doing the rounds Alex took time to talk with both League Officials as well as ordinary players of all standards. And faced up to the odd difficult question without blinking an eye! It was an excellent evening with Alex showing his genuine interest in 'grassroots' table tennis and encouraging players of every standard. Following the visit Alex said; "Val and I had a great time and look forward to coming again in the future. The efforts of all your group are fantastic for table tennis and the local community, wish I had 1000's of such projects across the country".

It's great to see that the ETTA has a Chairman who, despite his wide range of responsibilities and commitments, is interested in and accessible to, ordinary players. And prepared to take the time and effort to meet them. Thanks Alex for all that you are doing to promote the interests of table tennis.