Port Sorell Table Tennis Club
 

                           Hon. Mike Gaffney MLC

                           Member for Mersey

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                           28 March 2023

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Mr President, I welcome the honourable members from Samoa. 

 

My speech this morning is about a well-known sport and enjoyable family recreation that possibly does not receive the attention it truly deserves.  I am talking about table tennis, and this is definitely a good news story.  Many of us could remember our childhood with the obligatory table tennis table in the garage and lost ping pong balls hiding in every corner.

 

However, the Port Sorell Table Tennis Club (PSTTC) in my electorate was established in October 2020.  Despite being a little over two years old, the PSTTC was named by Table Tennis Australia as the Australian Club of the Year for 2022 - a truly remarkable result seeing there are 254 table tennis associations nationwide.  However, when I provide members with the achievements of the Port Sorell Table Tennis Club, one can see it is a well-deserved accolade.

 

The primary aim of the club is to serve the community of Port Sorell and surrounding areas by providing an inclusive opportunity for healthy, low-impact exercise that can be enjoyed by people of all ages and abilities, in a collaborative environment.  The committee members of the table tennis club are well aware of the biopsychosocial benefits of table tennis, which have been well researched and documented by neuroscientists such as Dr Daniel G. Amen.  In a published paper about the health benefits of table tennis, Dr Amen refers to table tennis as 'the world's best brain sport' and notes that the game is now being recommended as a method of warding off Alzheimer's and for assisting in the treatment of dementia.  Mr President, perhaps we could consider getting a table tennis table here in the parliament!

 

One of the table tennis goals is to imbue the older members of the local community with these benefits.  To assist with this, the club is also a member of the Veteran Wellbeing Voucher Program.  The table tennis club started out with one accredited coach, but has since put a number of members through coaching courses and boasts seven accredited active coaches offering free coaching to members, school and special needs groups.  Three coaches have undertaken additional training in coaching individuals with autism and with intellectual disability and the Port Sorell Table Tennis Club is an affiliate member of Special Olympics Australia.

 

Port Sorell Table Tennis Club also encourages children to become active in the sport.  In 2022 the club developed a primary schools' table tennis championship.  This was run as a pilot project involving schools in the Latrobe and Kentish municipalities and, with appropriate support, this is poised to become a Tasmanian - and hopefully an Australian - primary schools' championship. 

 

In 2021 Port Sorell Table Tennis Club was chosen by Table Tennis Australia to be one of five clubs in Australia, and the only one in Tasmania, to run a program sponsored by the International Table Tennis Federation for girls between the ages of five and 12 years.  The female Port Sorell table tennis coach who ran the program was one of five female coaches selected Australia‑wide.

 

Port Sorell Table Tennis Club is a family-oriented club and has some families represented by three generations playing table tennis together.  This creates a healthy family dynamic.  In addition to the club's focus on children, the elderly and special needs people, a vibrant, competitive program is run at the club.  Rosters catering for all ages and abilities are held twice weekly and, in two years, over 2000 primary school children have taken part in the club's programs. 

 

With 76 members at the end of 2022 with an age range from six to 80-plus years, and a 50/50 gender split, Port Sorell Table Tennis Club has rapidly grown to become the third biggest table tennis club in Tasmania - and Port Sorell is only a town of around 3000 people.  It is quite incredible that it has appealed to so many people.  The club has ambitious future plans which will not only benefit table tennis in the north of Tasmania but also be a boon to local businesses.  These plans include holding state, national and possibly even international events at its home venue, the Banksia Centre stadium.  These plans cannot be put into effect at this stage as the stadium does not quite meet the standard for championship events.  As such, Port Sorell Table Tennis Club is unable to host any of the four major annual state championship events at its home venue. 

 

Tasmania's premier table tennis club championship, the Tasmanian State League, was hosted by the Port Sorell Table Tennis Club last year, which, due to the unsuitability of the Banksia Centre stadium, involved moving two tonnes of equipment into Latrobe.  The inaugural 2023 Port Sorell Open Championships were held in Deloraine, again for similar reasons.  This is a loss to the local community as the Port Sorell Table Tennis Club's objectives align perfectly with those of Latrobe Council and there is hope that some improvements to its home venue, with state support, can occur to allow these events to take place in Port Sorell. 

 

Aside from the desperate need for improved facilities, the club is hoping to continue its growth and development to provide much-needed community support for the local area.  It is further testament to the urgent need for the Government to provide ongoing, grassroots support for developing sports that are thriving at local levels.  I congratulate the club on its success and hope that the Government continues to put money into the lesser known sports that create greater community participation.