New Ranking's After Welsh League

The new Junior Welsh rankings have been posted on the TTAW website following the first weekend of Welsh League. The Ferndale Boy's are ranked as follows:

Chris Griffiths - 6
Dylan Lewis - 9
Liam Winder - 10
Ethan Lewis - 22
Steven Fawkes - 30
Jaymz Tutton - 51


In the Girl's category we have Charlotte Slye in joint 10th position with Laura Edwards and Faye Evans.

Well done to all players and hopefully by the end of the season we can have an improvement on all these rankings.

Community Club Cancelled 14th of Dec

Due to poor weather I have cancelled the Community club this evening. Hope this has not caused any trouble but travel conditions seemed too poor.

End of Year Message from Stephen Gertsen

Below is a message from Stephen for all players:

"Hello Ferndale players

Wow I can’t believe how fast a year has gone since I left Ferndale Table Tennis club!! I’m so glad to see that you are all still playing and competing in tournaments around Wales and England. Despite leaving I always look out for your results and keep a eye on your progression and will continue to do so. I enjoyed coaching all of you and it gives me a lot of satisfaction seeing that you are all still involved in the sport and enjoying playing. Keep working hard at Ferndale with the sessions provided by the mad Scott Jonhston.....

I would like to wish everyone at Ferndale a great Christmas and a Happy New year. Hopefully I will see you all soon in the near future.

PS. Are you all Swansea City supporters now as we are the only club in Wales going places......."

Community Club Sessions

Wednesday the 14th will be the final Community club session before Christmas. The first session in the New Year will be on Wednesday the 11th as E3 sessions start on Monday the 9th.

Link with St.John Baptist High School

Monday the 12th saw the first day between Ferndale and St.John Baptist High School from Aberdare. The Aberdare boys are all studying GCSE PE and are using Table Tennis as part of their studies. It was a fantastic 1st event with Aberdare bringing over 15 players for the event. Ferndale had the following players representing the school:
Year 7: Ronan Comey, Eric Hughes, Kian Major, Liam Samuel
Year 8: Charlotte Slye
Year 9: Dylan Lewis
Year 10: Chris Griffiths, Liam Winder, Ethan Lewis
Year 11: Ryan Howells, Jamie Davies
The event was such a success that the schools are going to continue to meet at the end of every half-term along with some of the Aberdare players hoping to attend the Wednesday Community nights.

Return of Two Greats

This week has seen the return of two ex-ferndale representatives to training. Jamie Davies(on left) and Ryan Howells(right). The boys are taking Table Tennis as part of their GCSE studies for PE. It is good to see the boys coming back to the sessions and helping out with the new younger players.

North Gwent Cadet and Junior Open

Ferndale players had mixed fortunes at one of Wales biggest events a few weeks back. 

In the cadet event 3 players progressed through to the main event with one player failing to get through. Chris Griffiths won his group, only dropping one set in the process to Thomas Heydon. Ethan Lewis finished second in his group, losing out to Jac Jenkins 3-1. Dylan Lewis also finished second in his group losing out to Ryan Oyler 3-0 and winning a very close battle against Matthew Francis 3-2. Liam Winder was the only player not to progress through his group with him having two very difficult games. He finished thrid in his group, losing 3-1 to Callum Evans and Jamie Trevillion from England.

In the quarter finals Ethan Lewis lost out 3-0 to Callum Evans whilst there was an all Ferndale match between Dylan Lewis and Chris Griffiths. Chris won the battle 3-1. This lead to Callum Evans and Chris playing in the semi-final. Chris won the match in comfortable fashion 3-0. In the final Chris (number 1 seed) met the number 2 seed Ryan Oyler. In the final the seedings were switched as Chris struggled to get going in the final and lost 3-0

In the junior event all four Ferndale players qualified for the last 32. Dylan Lewis met number 1 seed Connor Edwards and fought hard but went down 3-0. Ethan Lewis lost out to Jamie Trevillion in a close 3-1 match with the third set going to deuce. There was another all Ferndale affair in round one with Chris and Liam meeting. Liam won the first but then Chris came back fighting and won it 3-1 but it could of gone to a fifth set with Liam losing the fourth set in deuce. This saw Chris being the last player for Ferndale in the under 18 event. In the quarter final Chris met Ryan Oyler in a repeat of the Under 15 final. This time Chris got revenge and won the match 3-1. This set up a semi-final match between Chris and Connor Edwards. Connor came out on top in this battle, winning 3-1 but the second end was a deuce set which Connor won and if Chris had taken that set the match could of finished differently.

Overall it was a good competition for the boys with them all competing well against a mixture of opponents. The boys should take confidence from this and take that in to the next event.

C.O.E Showdown

Dylan Lewis has been selected to represent Rhondda in the Centre of Excellence showdown. The event will take place in Swansea against Cardiff, Swansea and Gwent. Dylan will be representing the team along with Jon Bisp (Pontypridd), Callum Evans (Tonyrefail) and Stefan Jeczalik (Tonypandy). Good luck Dylan and well done on the selection.

North Gwent Cadet and Junior Open

Sunday the 27th of November will see the several players compete in the North Gwent Open in Abertillery. This is a very well attended competition with many of the top welsh players playing in the event. Good luck to all Ferndale players who have entered and a report will follow next week.

Dragon Event Sunday 20th of November

Ferndale had one representative in the above mentioned tournament as several players left it too late to enter. Liam Samuel competed in his first ever tournament and played very well. He was entered in the Under 13 event as he just missed out on the Under 11 event. Liam was one of 31 players entered in the Under 13 event and he finished 2nd in his first group of four and then 3rd in his second group of four. I am still waiting for confirmation on Liam's final position for the day but well done Liam in your first event.

New Ferndale Kit Arrives

The new kit has arrived in the school with several of the players already collecting the kit. The tops can be worn along with last seasons Stiga kit. The idea of the kit is to help the two welsh league teams on the two day weekend events. Pictures of some of the players in the kit will follow.

Charlotte Represents Wales

Charlotte represented Wales at the weekend in a match against England South West region. Wales sent a very young and inexperienced team. Charlotte and the Wales team found the match very difficult but Charlotte came back happy knowing that she played well and went close in several matches. Charlotte continues so see what standard she needs to work to.

Junior Welsh League

Ferndale had a very mixed weekend for results at Welsh League. On Saturday the A team struggled by losing both games 7-0 against Ael Y Bryn A and Rhonnda A. In both games the A team of Chris Griffiths, Ethan Lewis, Liam Winder and Steven Fawkes struggled to get in to both matches on day one. The boys were playing the top two teams in Division 1 and this was a very tough start but the boys will be disappointed that they did not cause more trouble to these top players.
 The B team of Jaymz Tutton, Dylan Lewis and Charlotte Slye had a tough day losing out to Rhonnda C 5-2, losing three fifth end matches which could of gone Ferndale's way as each match has the Ferndale players going 2-0 up. The second game they lost 5-2 to Swansea with nobody really getting in to full swing against the top team in Division 2.
Day two saw a change in fortune for the A team with them being undefeated. Game one was a 6-1 win against North Gwent A with the doubles letting the boys down. In game two they beat Bridgend A 5-2 with Ryan Oyler being the thorn in the Ferndale side by winning his two games, especially a fantastic match between him and Chris which went all the way but sadly Chris just struggled to keep his game going in the fifth end. The final match of the day was a 5-2 victory against Rhonnda B. Callum Evans beat Ethan and Jac Jenkins beat Liam to give Rhonnda a 2-1 lead going in to the doubles but the boys showed great character to win the next four games.
The B team once again had a tough day. In the first match they played Y Morfa and lost out narrowly 4-3 with another two fifth end matches going against them. In match two against North Gwent B the team struggled in every match losing out 6-1. Confidence was running low here and this accounted for a poor showing by the team. The final match was against Cathays and once again the team lost out in a close battle 4-3.
Both A and B team's will have learnt a lot from the first weekend of this tournament and will hopefully see that no matter how much training the players participate in, it is down to the the quality and effort of training they put in that is what makes the difference. The B team will especially learn from this weekend about the importance of concentration as it is what makes the difference in matches in the fifth end.
Jac Woodington of year 7 was also competing in this event for Bridgend in division 3. Jac found it a very difficult weekend but will have learnt a lot from this experience and at the second weekend Jac will be looking to have made a vast improvement in his playing standard to compete in this division.

Community Club Change

The Ferndale Community Club will not be runnning on Tuesday the 4th of October as there has been confusion with hall bookings. This means that starting from the week beginning 10th of October the Community Club will change from a Tuesday evening to a Wednesday evening with the usual time of 5:00-7:00. To allow this change to happen the E3 session on a Wednesday will now be moved to Tuesday and no E3 session will run on a Wednesday.

Another Welsh Selection

Congratulations to Liam Winder for getting another Wales selection. He will be travelling to the Stockton-on-Tees 4* event at the end of October. This is a great even that allows players to play in a team event on the Saturday and singles on the Sunday. Good luck Liam

National Squad Selections

Several Ferndale players have been selected to train in Cardiff on a weekly basis in the national squads. Charlotte Slye will be down in Cardiff on a Wednesday for the Welsh Youth Squad. Ethan Lewis, Steven Fawkes and Liam Winder will all be training in Cardiff on a Tuesday with the B squad. Chris Griffiths has been selected to train with the Welsh A squad on a Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. Well done to all five players on the selection.

Return to Training

E3 sessions have started again in Ferndale with them running four days a week. The only E3 after session that is not running is on a Tuesday as it is Community night 5-7. The sessions for E3 will run from 3:15-5:15 on Monday in the Barn, Wednesday in Lower Hall, Thursday in Barn and Friday in Lower Hall. Hope to see you all in the sessions.

UK School Games

Chris Griffiths and Kiran Parry both competed at the above mentioned competition. This was a fantastic opportunity for both players. Chris played very well in both the team event, winning 2 out of 6 matches against very strong opposition. In the singles Chris could not make it through his group to the main even but Chris will learn a lot from this competition and this will help him to progress further in this age group.
Kiran was competing in his first ever table tennis event, in the standing disability event. Kiran finished 6th in the singles event after coming third in his group and winning his first match in the 5th-8th section and then losing in the 5th and 6th play-off.
Well done both players and hopefully Ferndale's representation in this event will continue to be present for future events.

Welsh Selections

After the recent selection committee meeting Ferndale has another player representing Wales. Charlotte Slye has been selected to represent Wales in a development squad friendly international against the South West Region of England. Six boys are playing, including Community night regular Stefan Jeczalik, ad two girls so Charlotte has done well to be selected. Good luck to both Stefan and Charlotte. A report of the results in this match will follow.

Chris Griffiths will be representing Wales and Ferndale at one of the biggest events in the next week. Chris was selected to play at the UK School Games. This is an excellent competition with some of the best players from all over the UK attending. This will be a fantastic experience for Chris but also a very difficult one. Chris will be accompanied at the UK School Games by another player who has trained hard over he summer at Ferndale during the summer camps, Kiran Parry. Kiran will be representing Wales in the disabled section of the event. Kiran has attended the majority of the summer sessions and has been working very hard, he is hoping to attend the Community Nights once school starts again and he is hoping to continue to work with all the players at Ferndale. Good luck to both the boys.

Summer Training Report

Ferndale has had a very successful summer with several players being asked to attend national team sessions on a regular basis. The players that represented the school were Ethan Lewis, Chris Griffiths, Liam Winder, Seven Fawkes and Charlotte Slye. Coaches at these sessions have reported back saying the players worked very hard and put 100% effort in to the sessions. An "Internal" Tournament was held last week with 13 players playing and Ethan Lewis came out on top. Well Done Ethan, keep up the god work.
The sessions at the school during the day and the Community club have been well attended with many different individuals attending who would not usually attend the after-school sessions. Hopefully this steady increase of non-ferndale based players will continue to improve and will boost these club sessions for the local based players.

Summer Training Camps

Ferndale will be running two weeks of camps during the school summer holidays. Sessions will be on Tuesday the 26th, Wednesday the 27th and Thursday the 28th of July in the first week of the holidays and Tuesday the 2nd, Wednesday the 3rd and Thursday 4th of August. All sessions will run from 11am-2pm each day in the school.
The community club will run every Tuesday during the holidays at its usual time of 5-7 and in the Barn, so there are plenty of chances for Ferndale players to continue to play through the holidays.

Pontypridd Summer Festival Report

Ferndale had four players representing the school on Saturday in Pontypridd. Jonny Gregory had a fantastic competition and has sent me a report which I have attached below: 

The Pontypridd Summer Table Tennis Festival took place today, and was a great success with good spirited and high standard table tennis played throughout. The tournament attracted a strong entry of 40 competitors, all fighting it out to win their respective events, which included the beginners/improvers band, Band 1, and the Open.

The first event of the day was the beginners and was contested by 9 players including the youngest player of the day, seven year old Louie Evans! The event was eventually won by Ponty’s Callum Griffiths who beat Carmarthen based player Lawrence John in a tightly contested final.

The next event was the Band 1 competition, and was very open with many players capable of taking the top prize. There were some early upsets with the main one being 2^nd seeded Sharlene Williams missing out altogether against both Steven Fawkes and Port Talbot based player Kean Pak. In the last 16 there were no major upsets with all top seeds progressing safely through. It was a similar case in the quarters but with Stefan having to fight back from 2 sets down to beat Liam Winder. Dayna Pearce was also on a strong run getting the better of Steven Fawkes, to book her place in the semi-final.  No.1 seed Callum Evans and no.3 Jac both won their semi finals against Stefan and Dayna respectively to set up another encounter in their short but competitive careers! In the final Callum produced his best table tennis to win a great match 3-1. Jac threw all he had, but on this occasion Callum held out to take the Band 1 title. Sharlene went on to win the consolation event with a comfortable win over Ben Evans in the final.

The main event of the day was the open and with the good prize money on offer it attracted many top senior and junior international players! The top 4 seeds were Michael Marsden, Ryan Owen, Conor Edwards and Cameron Thomas. These along with the likes of Ethan Davies, Alex Prosser, Chris Griffiths, Nicole Hall, Ryan Oyler and Benjy Gregory made the tournament very competitive. All seeds progressed through their groups but with Cameron having to settle for the runners up position after losing out to Ryan Oyler, likewise Conor after losing out to the inform Callum Evans. Leading up to the semi final stage there were some great battles with Cameron winning against Chris Griffiths, Ethan winning against Ryan Oyler, Marsden winning against Conor, and Callum winning against Benjy. The four left standing included Marsden, Ethan, Callum, and Ryan Owen. The top seeds didn’t have the semi-finals their own way with Ethan pushing Marsden to 4 sets and young Callum playing very well pushing Ryan Owen in 4 close sets. In the final there were some great moments but Marsden had that extra level in the big points and took the match and the title in 4 close sets.

RESULTS:

Open

M. Marsden beat R. Owen (3-1)

Band 1

C. Evans beat J. Jenkins (3-1)

Band 1 – Consolation

S. Williams beat B. Evans (3-0)

Beginners/Improvers

Final Positions : Callum Griffiths, Lawrence John, Huw Standen, Alasdair Weir, Ayman Alkateeb, Macauley Morgan, Connor Priest, Vaughn Spragg, Louie Evans.

Well done to all Ferndale players for the hard work they put in yesterday.

End of E3 Sessions

Today was the final E3 session at Ferndale and it has ended a very difficult year for the players at Ferndale. Since Stephen left at Christmas the players have had a lot taken away from them and put through a very difficult period for training and development. Even though numbers at after-school have dropped and one-to-one sessions during school time have ended several players have continued to support the club on a daily basis and have been working very hard along with new players attending on a regular basis.

With the Community club now set-up, Ferndale has a great opportunity to take over as one of the top clubs in Wales. Ferndale is very lucky at the support it gains from the parents of the players as I cannot think of any other club in Wales that has such dedication. If this continues and numbers at this Community club continue to increase then this club has a very successful future ahead.

I think Laura Willaims, Ferndale 5x60 officer, deserves a massive thank you for making sure that Table Tennis in Ferndale continues to be a main focus point not only in E3 and 5x60 but through-out the school and now the community. I would also like to thank all the players and parents for sticking by the club through this difficult time and hopefully their faith will be rewarded in the near future.

Secondary British School's

Chris Griffiths and Ethan Lewis both were representing Ferndale and Wales at the weekend. Chris was in the A team with Ryan Oyler and Ethan in the B team with Callum Evans.
Ethan and Callum finished 6th out of 10 in the team event. In their group the played Jersey, England A and Ireland. The beat Jersey 3-2 (Ethan won two and Callum won one). The boys lost 5-0 against England with Ethan losing 9 in the fifth to the English number 2. Against Ireland it was another close match with the boys loosing out 3-2 (Ethan and Callum both won one). In the consolation part of the team event the boys played Isle of Man 3-0 with no sets being dropped by either player. In the 5th and 6th play-off the boys met Jersey again, who they beat before. The boys lost this time around the boys lost 3-2 with Ollie Griggs gaining revenge on Ethan and beating him 3-2.
Chris and Ryan had a 5-0 will against Isle of Man with both players not dropping a set. Next up in their group was Scotland A. This was a very close match with the boys winning 3-2. Blair Fowler won his two matches 3-2 and the boys both beat the Scottish number 2 3-0 so it all came down to the doubles, which the Welsh boys won 3-2. Next up were Guernsey B and this was another 5-0 victory with Chris dropping a single set in the whole match.
The quarter finals saw the boys meet Scotland B and the came out comfortable winners with a 3-0 win (once again no sets dropped). The semi final saw the boys face England A and the boys put up a great fight but sadly could not keep up the great results and lost 3-0.
There was a 3rd and 4th play-off match against Scotland A and Chris gained revenge over Blair Fowler by beating him in the 1st match to go on and win the match 3-1.
Well Done to Chris and Ryan for getting a bronze in the team event.

Next up was the singles event on the Sunday. Chris came out all guns blazing and started the day strong with a confident display to win his group, beating Ryan Courtie (IOM) 3-1 and Jack Bennett (ENG) 3-2. The quarter finals saw Chris meet Blair Fowler again and Chris again improved on his last result against Blair by beating him 3-1 this time. Chris then had to play Number 1 seed and England number 1 Helshan Weerasinghe, sadly Chris could not keep up the great form and lost 3-0. In the singles there was no 3rd and 4th play-off so Chris gained his second medal of the weekend.

Overall it was a fantastic weekend for both players and Ferndale. The boys will have learned a lot from this event and can bring back experiences gained to the Academy and help the younger players as well as themselves.
Well Done boys for a fantastic effort at the weekend.

Cippenham Festival

Liam Winder was playing at the above mentioned competition at the weekend. In the Under 14 Main event Liam reached the last 16. In the Under 16's Liam had revenge over the player who beat him in the Under 14's 3-0 in the group stage. He qualified for the Consolation event and reached the quarter finals. In the Under 18's Liam reached the last 16 of the main event but met the number 1 seed and lost 3-2. Well Done Liam in a very busy competition.

Message from Gertsen

Congratulations to Ethan Lewis and Chris Griffiths for getting selected for the British Schools this weekend in Lilleshall. The boys started playing Table Tennis with me 2 and a half years ago and it gives me great pride to hear that they are doing so well. Good luck to the pair of you and I look forward to more success stories.
 
It is also fantastic to hear that players I started back in the day are still playing and enjoying their Table Tennis, Charlotte Slye, Steven Fawkes, Jamie Walters, Liam Winder all picking up Welsh caps this season. Dylan Lewis, Callum Westcott, Sam Griffiths, Jaymz Tutton all heavily involved in com[etitions, fundraisers and so on.
 
Although I  have left I always look out for the Ferndale players names in tournament reports or through speaking to Scott. I think Scott is now starting to get to grips with the job and it looks like good things will be happening in the future.
 
Nothing would please me more than for Ferndale table tennis club to be in existence for many years to come!! I will also speak with Scott and look at visiting the club through the summer when you have a training day!
 
PS- Good luck to Cardiff City in the Championship next season; if anyone wants tickets to watch a premier league team such as Swansea let me know. I may be able to pull some strings!!
 
Regards
 
Stephen Gertsen

Fund Raiser Total

After a great effort from everybody that attended the bag packing day the result of the day is in. The total made was £333.54 and will all go to Ferndale Table Tennis Academy. Well done everybody who put in the effort for the day.

Morrison's Bag Packing

Saturday the 18th of June was the selected date of the Academy fund raiser at Morrison's in Porth. Not only was the day attended by players but a massive thank you must go to the parents and family members of players who came along to help out on the day. It was a great success with the money still being counted at this moment. Sadly not all players from the Academy could attend due to National squad sessions, illness and school commitments but overall it was a fantastic day. Pauline Fawkes did a fantastic job organising the day and once again has shown how well Ferndale Academy can run an event.

Steven and Pauline Fawkes

Sam Griffiths and his mother, Emma

Charlotte Slye, Callum Westcott and Dylan Lewis

Bag Packing to Raise Funds Change of Time

The bag packing was originally to start at 9am but instead it will be from 10am until 2pm on Saturday 18th of June. Players attending should wear Ferndale kit. Hopefully see as many of you as possible there.

Super Series Weekend Three

Ferndale had several players representing the school at the third weekend of this competition. This has a very high standard entering in both the Under 14 and Under 19 events with there being no easy matches.
The top four positions for both age groups were as follows:

Under 14's
1st - Callum Evans (Tonyrefail), 2nd - Jac Jenkins (Tonyrefail), 3rd - Stefan Jeczalik (Tonypandy), 4th - Caitlin Williams (Nantymoel)

Under 19's
1st - Charlotte Carey (Ebbw Vale), 2nd - Connor Edwards (Tonypandy), 3rd - Ethan Davies (Tonypandy), 4th - Chris Griffiths (Ferndale)

A great result for Dylan Lewis in the Under 14 consolation event as he played very well to win the event. He will be disappointed not to qualify for the main event but to go out and show that he was good enough to win the consolation event.

Well Done to all the Ferndale players.

UK School Games

To end a very busy weekend in Welsh Table Tennis an automatic qualification event was held for the UK School Games. This is a fantastic event and great opportunity to compete with all the best players from the UK representing either their county in England or national team for Scotland, Wales and Ireland. Charlotte Carey and Lewis Williams won automatic qualification events but the good news for Ferndale is that Chris Griffiths has been selected to represent Wales at this huge event. Well Done Chris and Good Luck.

TTAW Master's

Ferndale was represented at the Welsh Master's by Chris Griffiths. He was selected to play in the pre-arranged matches but he also played the qualifier to play in the main event.
The qualifying event took place in the afternoon at WIS. Chris played very well but sadly was unable to qualify for the main event but finished 3rd, losing out to eventual finalist of the Main Event and Ex-Welsh Senior Internationalist Patrick Thomas.
In his pre-arranged match for the evening he was drawn to play Ryan Oyler. This was always going to be an exciting match with both players playing fluent and exciting table tennis up close and away from the table. Chris showed his dominance from the word go and won 2-0. Well Done Chris.
For a full report of the event check the TTAW webpage.

West Wales Training Camp

On Thursday the 2nd of June three players from Ferndale represented the club at a training camp in West Wales. The players selected were Charlotte Slye, Jamie Walters and Josh Williams. All three players enjoyed the day and worked very hard. This was a great chance to train with different players and different coaches. A full report of the training day is on the West Wales blog (in the links section).

Half-Term Training

The school sessions for Half-Term will be running on the 31st of May and 1st of June in the Barn at Ferndale from 11am-2pm. Any Ferndale players attending must have a signed consent form the day of the training. These forms can be collected in the E3 office or with Scott. Make sure you get these signed so that you can attend.

May the 30th Training Day Cancelled

Sadly the training day arranged for Bank Holiday Monday the 30th has been cancelled. We were hoping to run another fantastic training day but with 2 other coaches, players and practise partners withdrawing it is better if we cancel the day and re-arrange soon so that everybody who attends will get the best out of the day. Kepp an eye on the blog for further information.

Bag Packing to Raise Funds

A fund raising event has been organised for the 18th of June at Morrison's in Porth. The event will run from 9am until 3pm. It would be great for all players to attend the day as these funds will hopefully be used for further training camps home and abroad along with funding entries for tournaments like Welsh league.

Training Day on May the 30th

After the success of the last training camp held a few weeks ago Ferndale Table Tennis club will be running another training camp on Bank Holiday Monday the 30th of May.

The camp will be run in the Barn sports hall at Ferndale Comprehensive School from 12:00 until 5:00 with a lunch break during the session. A small tuck shop will be run with sweets, drinks and hot dogs on sale during the lunch break.

The training day will have various coaches in attendance with UKCC level 2 and 3 coaches present as well as International standard practise partners.

The cost for the full day is £8 per person, with money raised going to Ferndale Table Tennis Academy. A deposit of £5 would be required to register your place on the day and then a £3 fee on the day.

To register your place for the day, email Scott Johnston at ferndaletabletennisacademy@hotmail.co.uk

Wales Selection

After the success of Ferndale having two players represent the school in the British Primary School's the school now has two players representing Wales in the Senior British Schools event.

Chris Griffiths (Under 14 A team) and Ethan Lewis (Under 14 B Team) have been selected to compete at Lilleshall, in England, from the 24th to the 26th of June. This is a fantastic achievement for both the boys and congratulations to them both for the selection.

Easter Sunday Training Camp

Easter Sunday saw 12 players travel to Ferndale for an extra training session. Not only did players travel from the Rhondda there were players who travelled from Nantymoel, Swansea and Gwent. The day started early for a Sunday and the first session (10-12) saw the group work on consistancy and then footwork. Even though there was a variation in standards within the group everybody worked incredibly hard.
After a brief lunch break the group were put through their paces with an agility test. This was no easy test, as the players found out. Even though the step ladder caused some difficulty for some players. The day ended with a competition to see who had developed the skills that had been worked on during the day. There was a main and consolation event that everybody played out for the finishing position, apart from the losing semi-finalists in the main event. Due to it being Easter Sunday the winner's were awarded with an Easter egg for their efforts. The final positions were as follows:
1 - Chris Griffiths, 2 - Max Clews, 3 - Ethan Lewis and Steven Fawkes, 5 - Sharlene Williams,  6 - Charlotte Slye, 7 - Jon Bisp, 8 - Kieran Parry, 9 - Jamie Walters, 10 - Josh Williams, 11 - Harry Langley, 12 - Cade Short.

Consolation and Main Event final being played 

Charlotte Carey

Overall it was a fantastic session that every player managed to get something out of and they shall hopefully attend future sessions. Thanks must go to the other coaches in attendance (Dai Treharne and Stephen Gertsen) and also Charlotte Carey, who came for the morning session as a practise partner and also had a little question and answer session with the players to show just how far you can go with hard work.

Ferndale Players Train in East Region

The 18th and 19th April saw Charlotte Slye, Ethan Lewis, Liam Winder and Steven Fawkes travel to the BATTS club in Essex to train with former Ferndale coach Stephen Gertsen. Ferndale were also accompanied by Nantymoel players Sharlene Williams and Gwyn Carvill and coach David Treharne.
The camp was a fantastic training experience for all players as there was a large variation in playing abilities and styles over the two days. This was a fantastic opportunity for the players to get in extra training against top quality players in England.
I would like to Thank Neil Brierley of BATTS club for all the hard work he put in during the training camp to accomodate the Welsh players (and coaches). Another thanks must go to the East Region coaches, Stephen Gertsen and Aad Kwakkelstein, for their hard work and running two fantastic sessions.
There are pictures and a report on the ETTA East Region blog in the links section.

Cheltenham Junior 4 Star

Ferndale had Liam Winder, Steven Fawkes, Ethan Lewis and Chris Griffiths representing the school at the above mentioned event. Report's about the boy's are that they once again gave their best at a top English ranking event with Chris going one step further in the Cadet Banded event than in Derby by reaching the final. The boy's will learn a lot from these events and can bring what they learn back to the academy and not only will they help themselves but also the younger players who will hopefully start attending these events with them.

Easter Sunday Training Day

On Sunday the 24th of April a training session will be held at Ferndale from 10am-3pm. With not many E3 sessions being held during the holidays this is a perfect opportunity for players all over Wales to train together and have a different type of session from a usual after-school. Due to the day being held on Easter Sunday the cost for it all will be just £8 for hall rental. If you are interested please email me to register your spot on the camp. The best email address to contact me on for this is ferndaletabletennisacademy@hotmail.co.uk

British Primary School's Success for Ferndale

Ferndale had two players representing Wales and the school last weekend at WIS. Charlotte Slye represented the Wales A team and Jamie Walters represented the Wales B team in the boys event.
Jamie was playing in only his second competition and found it very difficult, along with the rest of the welsh boys from both the A and B team. Jamie was thrown into the deep end from the start as his first match was against the number 1 seed and ITTF World Hope team member, Chris Wheeler. Jamie will now have seen what standard he has must aspire to if he wants to compete at a higher competitive level like this on a regular basis.
Charlotte had a fantastic weekend in both the Team and Singles event. In the team event she lost only 3 matches out of 10 and proved to be a very strong doubles player by not losing one match through-out the team event. The girls A team played very well and only lost 1 team match against a very strong Irish team to pick up a silver medal. In the singles event Charlotte qualified through her group in second place, this set up a last 16 match against her A team partner Faye. Charlotte lost out in the fifth set and played very well after being 2-0 down.
Overall it was a fantastic weekend for both Ferndale players but with an added bonus of having a medal winner. Both players gained valuable experience that they can now bring back to school to help their fellow team mates. Already this week I can see the renewed enthusiasm in both the players. Once again Well Done to both Jamie and Charlotte and lets hope they have much more success like this in the future.

Glamorgan County Result

This weekend Glamorgan 2 Junior team competed in Okehampton, Devon. The team consisted of Ryan Oyler, Alex Prosser (Tonypandy), Nicole Hall, Carys Webster (both Tonyrefail) and Ferndale player Chris Griffiths. The team beat Devon 3 9-1, Devon 2 10-0 and Devon 4 10-0. These results mean that Glamorgan will have two teams in Division 1B next season. Well done to all the players mentioned above and others that have represented the county this season.

Derby 4*

The weekend of 26th and 27th of March saw four Ferndale players travel to Derby along with three other welsh players (Alex Prosser, Jac Jenkins and Callum Evans). The players representing Ferndale were Steven Fawkes, Chris Griffiths, Liam Winder and Ethan Lewis.

Under 15 Boy's Grade 1 Event
Groups
Steven Fawkes (118) lost 3-0 to Ross Jarvis (48), who was the number 3 seed for this event. The other game in this group was against Jacob Barber (88) and lost this in a very close match 3-2.
Ethan Lewis (114) played very well in his group winning both his games 3-0 and qualify as winner of the group. He beat Daniel Pound (62) and Finn Morgan-Bayliss (107).
Liam Winder (134) lost one and won one in his group. Sadly for Liam only one went through the groups and he just missed out. He beat Ollie Griggs (131) 3-1 and lost out to Leon Thomson (71) 3-2.
Chris Griffiths (78) had one player pull out of his group so he only had to win one game to qualify. Chris beat Ryan Williams (96) 3-0.

Knock-Out Stages
In the last 32 Ethan beat Harry Gwilliam (91) 3-0. Chris had a harder match against Kevin Vandabona (103). It was a very difficult match that could of gone either way but Chris played very well to win 3-2. The last 16 saw both Ethan and Chris play some fantastic table tennis to win their games 3-0. Ethan beat Marcus Reynolds (55) and Chris beat Leon Thomson (71). Both boys were now in the quarter finals. Ethan played very well but in this match his opponent, Hugo Tupper (72), was a very good player and Ethan struggled to get himself in to this game and lost 3-0. Chris had to play Ronan Kelly (47) and he played very well to win 3-1. This set Chris into the semi-final where Chris had a fantastic 5th set match that could of gone any way but on this occasion Chris just missed out and lost to Stephen Ward (52).

Under 15 Boys's Open
Groups
Steven Fawkes was meant to have the number 1 seed but he was replaced in the group, but I was unable to get his name. The player that replaced the seed won all his games to take the top spot, Steven lost this match 3-1. Steven beat Matthew Fields (65) 3-1 but lost 3-2 in the other match, against Alex Gillen (109), in a match that Steven should of won. Steven went through the group as runner-up due to a count back.
Chris Griffiths went through his group as runner-up. He has the number 3 seed Daryl Gee (13) and Chris played well to get a set but Daryl just had that little bit more and he won 3-1. Chris won his other two matches 3-2 against Matthew Leete and 3-1 against Adam Ross (94).
Liam Winder had one player withdraw from his group but sadly he could not take advantage of this and could not qualify. He had to play the number 9 seed Luke Walsh (33) and found it very difficult, losing out 3-0. Liam lost out on a very close match to get the runner's up spot, by losing 3-2 against Ollie Buddell (77).
Ethan Lewis also had a very tough group where he lost 3-0 to the top two players in his group, Stephen Ward (52) and Hugo Tupper (72).  The other player in his group was Alec Ward (66) who Ethan beat 3-2 in  another close match that Ethan stormed away with in the 5th.

Knock-Out stage
Both Chris and Steven entered the draw in the last 64 stage. Steven lost out in a very close battle against Bradley Wood (56), as he failed to convert his chances and lost 3-1. Chris once again made life difficult and had a very close 5th set match against Tom Jarvis (51) but he won the game and continued on to the last 32. In this stage Chris met Scottish international player Chris Wheeler (19) and Chris found this game very difficult and lost out 3-1 in a match that Chris was always on the back foot.

Under 18 Boy's Open
Groups
Steven had a difficult group as he had to play the number 3 seed Ping Ho (3) and lost this match 3-0 as he was really struggling to return the serves of this penhold player. Steven also lost out 3-0 to Alec Ward (66) in a match he was capable of winning. The other player in the group was Harry Messervy (150) who he beat 3-0.
Liam also had a very difficult group as he had to play Chris Wheeler (19) and Max Tupper (35) who are both international players for Scotland and Jersey. Liam lost both these matches 3-0. The other player in the group was Zak Wilson (153) who Liam found much easier and beat 3-0.
Chris struggled to get himself in to his under 18 group and lost all three matches 3-1 against some very good players. He had to play Alex Wheeler (152), Laurence Sweeney (22) and Kevin Vandabona (103).
Ethan played very well in his group to qualify for the knock-out stages. He lost 3-0 to the top player in the group Vincent Stacey (25) but he played very well to beat Bradley Osbourne (75) 3-0. In his final match of the group he played Ollie Griggs (131) and went in to a storming 2-0 lead and had match points in the third set and then he started to take the match easy and before he knew it he was in the fifth set. he got his head back in to the game and ended up winning the match 3-2.

Knock-out Stage
The last 64 stage saw Ethan play the runner-up in Chris's group. He ended up playing Alex Wheeler (152). Ethan played well and had a chance in every set but was unable to convert these chances he had created for himself and lost out 3-1.

Under 18 Boy's Grade 1
Groups
Chris had a fantastic win in this event by beating the number two seed Joshua Band (28) 3-1. This was a very good result that Chris should of used as confidence to then win his group but he struggled in his next match against Ashley Scott (68)  and ended up losing 3-2. The final match in his group was against Leon Thomson (71) and Chris won this match 3-1. This set up a count back for who qualified from the group and Chris went through as the group winner.
Ethan had one player withdraw from his group so he had to win against the fifth seed, Max Tupper (35),  to progress in to the next round. Sadly Ethan struggled to keep Max from using his very strong forehand and Ethan lost 3-0.
Steven once again struggled in his group stage and lost both his matches 3-0. Against the top player in the group Michael White (45) he struggled but in the match against Matthew Leete (76) he had a great chance of winning but sadly he could not get himself to play his top game.
Liam had two matches in his group but I did not get a result for the match against Charlie Williams (116). Against Michael Lunn (39) Liam found life difficult and could play his game but instead was forced to play his opponents.

Knock-out Stage
Chris had a bye to the last 16 stage due to him being the number two seed. Chris had to play Kevin Vandabona (103) for the third time this weekend. At this point it was 1-1 between the two players. Chris was unable to replicate his victory from the grade 1 cadet's the day before and lost 3-2. He was 2-1 up but unable to finish the match off.


Overall it was a very difficult weekend for the Ferndale players. They found out how difficult it is to compete in England compared to events in Wales. The players all learnt something from the weekend that they now need to work on and hopefully in the future they can all go that step further.

Newport Open

Ferndale had 5 boys enter Newport at the weekend in both the Junior and Cadet events. In both events there was a very bizarre draw with 3 Ferndale players being put in the same group.

Cadets


Group 1 saw Ethan Lewis, Chris Griffiths and Liam Winders all in the same group with Ryan Lo. All of the boys beat Ryan and then the group became interesting as each Ferndale player won one and lost one. Ethan beat Chris 3-2, Liam beat Ethan 3-1 and Chris beat Liam 3-0. Due to these results Liam and Chris went through on a count-back.

Group 2 saw Steven Fawkes play some great table tennis to finish second in his group. Steven got revenge from the Nationals by beating Callum Evans 3-2. He also won his two other games 3-0 against James Clayton and Stefan Jeczalik. Steven finished the group in second place as he lost out 3-1 to Alex Prosser.

Group 3 had  Dylan Lewis fighting it out against to make the main draw. Dylan lost two and won two in his group. Dylan lost 3-0 to Connor Edwards and had a narrow defeat against Jac Jenkins, 3-1. Dylan beat James Clayton 3-0 and had a fantastic win over Jon Bisp 3-2. So Dylan just missed out on the main draw.

The quarter-finals saw Liam and Steven get drawn against each other with Liam winning 3-0. Chris met Jac Jenkins in his quarter-final and also won his 3-0.

The semi-finals saw Ferndale against Tonypandy. On this occasion it ended up 1-1 as Connor Edwards beat Liam 3-0 and Chris beat Alex Prosser 3-2.

This set up a another Ferndale Tonypandy encounter. With Connor beating Chris in the final to take the Cadet Championship.

Juniors
Group 1 once again saw 3 Ferndale players drawn in the same group. This time all three lost 3-0 to Connor Edwards and all beat Myles Battle 3-0. This meant that the runner-up spot was available to one of the three Ferndale players. Like before the group became interesting here with it going to a count back. Steven beat Liam 3-0 (opposite of the Cadet quarter final result), Ethan beat Steven 3-1 and Liam reversed the score from the last group by beating Ethan 3-1. On a count back, this time Ethan went through to the quarter finals.

Group 2 saw Chris Griffiths qualify as winner without dropping a set against some good opponents. Chris beat Jon Bisp, Stefan Jeczalik, Ryan Oyler and Ben Evans.

Group 3 saw Dylan Lewis lose every game yet Dylan was very close in two of the matches. Against Max Clews Dylan lost 3-0 yet every set went to deuce and Dylan had his chances. His other two matches were against Callum Evans (3-1) and Alex Prosser(3-0).

Chris got a bye to the Semi-finals so this meant that Ethan was the only player in the quarters. He had a very tough match against Alex Prosser, which he lost 3-1.

Due to Alex beating Ethan, he set-up a Semi-final match against Chris. Chris could not re-create his efforts from the Cadets semi and lost this time round to Alex.

Overall it was a good day for Ferndale and the players are really showing that they can compete against the best in Wales.

Ferndale Boy's Represent Wales

Liam Winders, Ethan Lewis and Steven Fawkes represented Wales on the 18th of Feb 2011 in a test match against South West England region. They were part of an 8 person Welsh team, 4 boys and 4 girls. The boys playing alongside Ashley Stravakis, Nicole Hall, Sharlene Williams, Angharad and Megan Phillips.
The boys had mixed results on the day with Ethan Lewis being the star man and getting voted "Man of the Match" after winning his two games 3-2. Liam and Steven both lost their two matches but all 3 players will have learnt something from the day.
The Wales team won overall with the boys losing their match 5-3 but the girls winning 6-2 meant that Wales had an overall victory of 9-8.
Well done boys and hopefully we will see you representing Wales more often in the near future.

Two Welsh Primary Schools Selection's for Ferndale!!

The Primary School Trails were held on the same day as the National Championships and Ferndale had two players in attendance. In the girls event we had Charlotte Slye and in the boys Jamie Walters.
In both events there were two groups and the 1st and 2nd in each group then went into another group with the other 1st and 2nd and so on.
Jamie Walters started well in his 1st match but his nerves were visible and he struggled to finish the opening set from 9-4 up. Jamie came 3rd in his group and went into the following group as a strong contender to win the group. Sadly he lost another and Jamie finished an over all 6th out of 10 players.
In the girls event Charlotte lost one in her group and then another in the 2nd group. The two girls Charlotte lost to were both from the same club in North Wales and they both performed very well to beat Charlotte but she done herself proud and gave a great account of herself. Charlotte eventually finished 3rd over all in the girls event.

Even though these were the final placings this did not mean automatic selection and the players had to wait a week or two to find out if they had been selected. Due to the event being held in Cardiff on the 1st-3rd of April Wales were allowed to enter two teams for both boys and girls. When the selections were made it was great news for Ferndale as both Jamie and Charlotte were selected. Charlotte will be representing the Girls A team and Jamie the Boys B team.

Well done to both players and hopefully they can go on and do very well for Wales not only at the Primary School's but in the future and follow in the foot steps of fellow Ferndale players.

Junior and Cadet Welsh Championships 5th of March

Saturday the 5th saw the biggest date in the Welsh Table Tennis season. The Nationals is the place to show National team selectors what you can do and settle some old scores from events earlier in the season. The Ferndale players had tough draws and the day was going to be very difficult for everybody.

Junior Boys - Group Stage
Group 1 saw two Ferndale players up against eachother (Dylan Lewis and Ethan Lewis) both players got to test themselves against number 1 seed and eventual winner Connor Edwards. Both lost there match 3-0 against Connor. The other player in the group was Jac Jenkins. Ethan beat Jac comfortably with a 3-0 win. Dylan lost out 3-1. Against each other Dylan started strongly but Ethan then found his game and ended up winning 3-1. Ethan qualified in 2nd place and progressed in to the main event.
Group 2 saw Chris Griffiths seeded at 2 and to show he was out to mean buisness he won this group comfortably by only dropping 1 set against Alex O'Connel. His two wins were both 3-0 against Jon Bisp and Tommy Heydon.
Group 5 had Steven Fawkes. Steven had a good chance at progressing through this group but sadly on the day he could not find his feet and struggled to really get himself going in the important matches. He won 3-0 against Myles Battle but lost 3-0 to both Callum Evans and Alex Prosser.
Group 7 had Liam Winder in a group of 3 but probably 1 of the toughest groups. Liam won his first match 3-1 in an exciting match against Stefan Jeczalik. Sadly Liam could not take the same form into his 2nd match against Ash Stravakis and lost 3-0 but still progressed in to the main event.

Junior Boys -  Main Event
Liam Winder met Dan O'Connel in the last 16 and probably the hardest match he could of got. Liam gave a good account of himself but sadly Dan was just sharper and quicker than Liam.
Ethan Lewis had to play Ash Stravakis in his last 16 match, with the winner meeting Chris Griffiths in the quarters. Ethan played really well to win the match and set up an all Ferndale quarter final.
The match between Chris and Ethan was a very close game that could of gone any way but in the end Chris's attacking style just conquered Ethan and his defense but Ethan performed well.
This set up a semi-final match against Lee Morgan for Chris. Lee just seemed to have the edge on Chris in this match with Chris failing to assert his game on Lee and ended up doing a lot of defensive work instead of the other way around.

Cadet Boys - Groups
Like in the Junior event Dylan Lewis was drawn against another Ferndale player but this time Liam Winder. The boys were in group 2 and up against Alex Prosser. Dylan lost this match 3-0 but Liam played well to get a set but Alex was playing fantastic and was a difficult player to beat on the day. The other player in this group was Jon Bisp, who both players beat. Liam won 3-1 but made harder work of the game than he should of. Dylan played very well in this match and beat Bisp 3-2 in a match that most would of expected Jon to win.   Dylan, agian like in the Juniors, won the 1st set against Liam but then Liam's experience kicked in to change the match and win it 3-1.
Ethan Lewis was in group 3 and started the group well winning 3-0 against both Myles Battle and Ryan Hale. The seed in his group was Ryan Oyler and Ethan lost this 3-1. Ethan had plenty of chances in this match but consistency let him.
Group 4 saw Chris Griffiths as the seed and he showed that winning both his games 3-0 against Alex O'Connel and Jac Jenkins.
Group 5 had Steven Fawkes out to show that the morning results were not going to effect him. He beat the seed in his group Ash Perry 3-0 but sadly Callum Evans got in his way again beating Steven 3-1.

Cadet Boys - Main Event
Liam Winder met Callum Evans in the last 16 and the Tonyrefail player did the double over Ferndale by beating Liam in a game that Liam could of won but sadly could not on this occasion.
Ethan Lewis in the last 16 met Stefan Jeczalik and Stefan struggled through-out against Ethan's defensive play and Ethan set up another quarter final match with Chris Griffiths.
Steven Fawkes had a bye in his last 16 so met Alex Prosser in the quarters. Alex was on devastating form through-out the day and Steven fought hard but could not get past Alex.
Like in the Juniors Chris and Ethan had another difficult match that Chris once again won but Ethan again played well and made Chris fight for the match.
This set up a semi-final between Alex Prosser and Chris. Chris started the match very positive and went storming in to a 2-0 lead but sadly Chris could not keep it up and Alex fought back very well. Chris lost his fight and rhythm and Alex ended up with victory 3-2 but it was a fantastic game.

Ferndale success did prevail in the end with Chris Griffiths and Ashley Stravakis winning the Junior Doubles event. A very good result as the boys beat number 1 seeds Lee Morgan and Connor Edwards in the Semi-Final stage.

Charlotte Slye did play in the Junior girls event but had a very difficult day losing out 3-0 to Kate Roberts and eventual Junior girls winner Charlotte Carey.

Overall Ferndale had a good day but the players will be expecting to have maybe got a round further and shall hopefully use this to work that little bit harder in training and focus more.

New Ferndale Blog

Hi Everybody

Welcome to the new Ferndale Table Tennis Academy blog. This is where you will get all the information you need about Ferndale training times, results and future events.

During the time that Stephen Gertsen left and myself starting Ferndale players have been very busy. Some of the players have been representing the school in English 4 star competions, Welsh league and even for Wales.

4 players have represented Wales in different events. Charlotte Slye represented Wales in a team of 4 girls and 4 boys. In this particular occasion the girls (Charlotte, Soffi Jenkins and Caitlin Williams) won 6-3, with Charlotte winning two games, 3-0 and 3-2, and losing one game 3-0.

Steven Fawkes, Liam Winder and Ethan Lewis have also represented Wales along with Ashley Stravakis, Sharlene Williams, Nicole Hall, Angharad and Megan Phillips. Wales won this match 9-7 with Ethan helping the team by winning his two matches 3-2. Liam and Steven found life harder but still performed well. Both boys were defeated with Steven losing his games 3-0 and 3-1 whilst Liam lost both his matches 3-0.

Results and selections like this show that Ferndale players are constantly improving and working there way up the Welsh ranking's and squad selections. The reports from two Welsh League weekends and the Easy Midlands 4 Star event will follow.