Surprise omission from table tennis nominees

Press, Volume CXII, Issue 33101, 16 December 1972, Page 4

Surprise omission from table tennis nominees

(By

R. L. SCHUMACHER)

Mr T. R. D. Flint and Mrs T. May, by their playing ability and administrative services, have tilled major roles in promoting table tennis in Canterbury for the last 20 years. Their contributions to the the sport were recognised at the last meeting of the Canterbury Table Tennis Association.

On the motion of the president (Mr A. B. McCallum) the executive, without demur, agreed to forward their nominations for life membership to the annual meeting of the association on March 28. At present there are only two life members of the association, Mr McCallum and Mr J. J. Dunne, a former secretary. Mr Flint’s representative career extended from 1945 to 1964; he played 151 times for Canterbury and was selected for South Island on five occasions. On his retirement, Mr Flint immediately turned to coaching and has been the Canterbury director of coaching for seven years. In 1969 he was appointed national coach and has been in sole charge of both the junior boys’ and girls’ train-

ing clinics for the last two years. He was official coach of the New Zealand team which competed in the 1971 world championships at Nagoya, Japan, and he will manage next year’s side at the Commonwealth tournament and world championships. A Canterbury selector for the last six years, Mr Flint has been on the executive committee for this period in an “ex officio” capacity. There are some doubts, however, as to his eligibility to receive the life membership. A section ,in the constitution states: “The distinction of being elected an honoraryTife member of the association shall be conferred only upon a past or present executive committee member of the association or the New Zealand Table Tennis Association for special service rendered.”

Although not a present member of the executive, Mrs May had previously served for 11 years. She is still very active in association affairs and is responsible for the timeconsuming job of recording all results.

Her playing record is remarkable—she has appeared 222 times for Canterbury, five for the South Island and represented the South Island against the Chinese this year. Mrs May has been a valuable asset to Canterbury teams since her debut in 1951, and has been nationallyranked on 11 occasions. She has assisted in the coaching of deaf children and junior squads and is a diligent worker in social activities.

But while the work accomplished by both Mr Flint and Mrs May is considerable, it still does not surpass the achievements of the association’s vicepresident, Mr R. G. Hart.

A member of the executive for 20 years—the last six as vice-president —Mr Hart has held the positions of honorary auditor, assistant secretary and has been a senior selector for 16 years.

For more than two decades Mr Hart has con-

tributed table tennis articles to newspapers and for Canterbury and New Zealand programmes. A holder of a provincial umpire’s badge, he has officiated in a number of representative and test fixtures. He was sole South Island selector in 1961 and

since 1962 has been a Canterbury delegate to the annual meeting of the national body.

While his administrative attributes outweigh his playing record, Mr Hart has represented Canterbury and for 22 consecutive years has played in the A grade inter-club competition.

His club, Dallington, will now nominate him for a life membership. It would be very strange if the Canterbury association did not accord him the same honour that it has proposed for Mr Flint and Mrs May.