Sport has been extremely affected by last weeks storm, with Table Tennis Jersey’s centre being ripped to shreds in the night.
Dan caught up with Vice President Paul Silcock about the last week and how damaging it has been for the sport.
How devastating has last few days been for Jersey Table Tennis?
It’s been our worst nightmare. We have really built the club back up after Covid. Membership is strong and we have a thriving set of new Junior’s coming through. Our Bat & Chat sessions (aged 50-90!) have been really busy and our elite players have been performing well off island. The storm and the loss of the Table Tennis Centre is going to push back our priorities over the next year, at least!
Just how bad is the damage?
It’s pretty bad. We have had initial visits by building control and structural engineers. As you will see from the photo’s we have lost part of the roof in the main playing area as well as the canteen so the exposed areas are unusable at the moment.
We are worried that we will lose the front wall at the moment and its currently being supported. We are waiting for further reports, best case scenario is that we can put up some temporary walls and be able to use part of the centre, but it’s still early days. Worst case scenario is that we would need to demolish and start again.
How long before you guys believe you can be up and running?
That’s probably a two part strategy. In relation to getting table tennis played again we have had lots of initial support from the community and we are hoping to get the leagues, the junior coaching, bat and chat and other activities running in the next couple of weeks. We are currently looking at venues around the island and trying to work out what will work for everyone. In relation to the venue, that’s the million dollar question! I think optimistically we will be talking a year at least before we can think about restoring the venue to what it was before. We are just in the infancy of fact finding at the moment though.
Do we have any alternatives organised yet for training away from the centre?
As mentioned above, this is one of strategic priorities in the short term. We had already secured Fort Regent for the British Primary Schools competition in April and we may also see if we can use this for the Jersey Grand Prix if it goes ahead. We are starting to explore other options and we would be happy to consider the Fort if its a viable option for other parts of the club.
Would funding from government be good?
Any financial and non-financial support would be greatly appreciated from government but we are not at a stage yet of analysing what we need to get ourselves up and running. Both Government (Lucy Stephenson) and Jersey Sport (Catriona McAllister) have both been in touch with sympathy and with offers of support once we know what’s required.
We are sorry for the damage that has affected the table tennis community and hope to see them back as soon as possible!
