A friend once told me we are custodians of the game we love, and the Nationals, with all its exposure, is where our leadership is demonstrated.
You were simply awesome, LOOPS! Our environment is truly impressive. We spend hours together in a community we built and welcome anyone to join, a community built on resilience, understanding, teamwork, support, friendship, and a fighting spirit.
“You win or you learn,” they say. Well, you certainly won, and learning is in the DNA of a LOOPS membership.
Appreciation has been paramount in recent months. We have an amazing place to play the game we love. I personally want to thank Joe Gerada for his passionate, untiring, and continuous work in all areas of LOOPS and Table Tennis, and for supporting so many kids and participants for over 30 years. I also want to thank Brett Clarke for his mentoring, coaching, and support for more than thirty years. His contribution continues to demonstrate he’s my kind of person!
Over the years, so many people have contributed to the success of LOOPS: Wayne Gerada, Hannah Green, Olivia Green, David Loi, Nathan van der Heiden, Chermaine Quah, past coaches who have hit countless balls with our members, and support roles like Raj Datta, Bradley Patton, Adam Pegg, and Jenny Langridge.
It is important to also appreciate the efforts of Table Tennis Victoria and the team that worked with the children and team during the event, including but not limited to David Powell the Head Coach, Frankie Pearce the Able Body Team Manager, Mick Tomlinson AWD Team Manager and the coaches of each team.
And Table Tennis Australia and their large team including coaches who watched all the matches, management not limited to Phil Davis and all the umpires and referees for their continued and long days in the hall.
Finally, a thank you that words cannot express to Andrew from Banner Asset Management, Adrian from Hakuba.com, Hannah and Oscar for their continued support, and Peter Osvath for capturing images of our team at the Nationals and throughout the year!
