Wartime Table Tennis Minders Meet

A sombre but determined group of table tennis administrators assembled for the 1943 Annual General Meeting aware that the sport, along with the rest of the country, was just emerging from one of the darkest periods of its history. The fortunes of war had turned in 1942 and it seemed the end of hostilities might now be in sight, albeit somewhat distantly. But the burden of war weighed heavily – many former table tennis adherents were serving overseas and some were dying.

The group at the AGM was representative of those doing their best to maintain a degree of normality in the table tennis scene at home. NZTTA records show that those attending were A Marshall, N Ballinger, K Longmore, T Williams, A Little, C Stanwell, V Mitchell, K Olney, L Fitzgerald, A Meachen, W Mullins, P Dudley, S Robson. The meeting was held in the rooms of the Physical Welfare Branch at no cost.

Costs in general were a major concern and the meeting sought to minimise such items as the telephone rental (it was decided the Secretary should meet half that cost), and the Post Office Box rental (it was recommended the box should be sublet).

In an effort to encourage Associations in wartime recess to continue attending Annual Meetings, delegates whose Associations had paid the nominal recess fee were accorded full voting rights, while representatives of those who could not afford the fee were still encouraged to attend and speak at AGMs.

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Interclub Participation Reaches Lowest Point

With interclub participation steadily falling since the start of the war, figures for 1943 were awaited with some trepidation. There was a degree of relief when it was revealed that 220 teams entered competitions throughout the country. While this was a more than 30% drop on the 1940 figure of 692, at least interclub was continuing and an infrastructure was being maintained. And, thankfully, participation didn’t drop any further. It rose to 302 teams in 1944 and 470 in 1945 - the year in which the war ended.

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Inter-Association Events Maintained

The most visible activity at national level throughout the leanest of the war years was the inter-Association teams championship. This was introduced just as war was breaking out and first played in 1940. Associations who continued to support it during the war included Auckland, Wanganui, Hawke’s Bay, Hutt Valley, Wellington, Otago and Southland.

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Flying Officer’s Death Memorialised

It was one of the first wartime table tennis deaths, possibly the very first, destined to be memorialised long-term. Air Force Flying Officer Jack Croudis was killed in action and fellow Hutt Valley table tennis stalwarts Gus and Pat Valk presented the Jack Croudis Memorial Shield in his honour. The trophy was competed for annually for several decades between Hutt Valley and Wellington in a fixture featuring the top four men and top four women from each Association. It incorporated four mixed doubles as well as men’s and women’s singles and doubles.

It was a major event on the calendar of the two neighbouring associations.

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Flood of Regional Inter-Association Trophies Presented

The Jack Croudis Memorial Shield mentioned above was followed by a succession of wartime and post-war trophies presented for competition among groups of neighbouring Associations throughout the country. Within ten years of the war’s end no fewer than six others were being contested annually. They included Jarvis Rose Bowl (Otago / Southland region); Barrow Shield (Canterbury / South Canterbury region); Perry Shield (Nelson, Marlborough, West Coast and initially South Taranaki); Laurie Sweetman Memorial Shield (Manawatu, Wanganui, Hawke’s Bay, North Taranaki, South Taranaki, Wairarapa); Sutton Shield (Waikato, East Waikato, Rotorua, Bay of Plenty, Thames Valley, Franklin); Gordon Cup (Auckland, Wellington).

Many other inter-Association and triangular team tournaments at senior and junior level were organised from time to time.

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