SEASON 2011-2012 The new season is just about underway. Training is open in Goleen on Fridays 7.00 - 9.00pm every Friday. The Monday sessions will begin on the 5th September 3.30 - 4.30pm. Skibbereen starts on Tuesday 6th September with 3x1hr sessions from 3.00-6.00pm. Dunmanway sessions are on Thursdays 4.30-6.00 Joola Performance Squad Two new players have joined the Joola Performance Squad after their success last season. Sam Coughlan from Goleen showed tremendous improvement throughout the season reaching the Munster Top 8 Finals at U12, he will be joined by Mair Kelly who was selected for the Munster U12's last season and finished in the Irish Top 10. West Cork are delighted to continue their close relationship with both Joola and Celtic Table Tennis this forthcoming season.

Irish Junior Classification 2011
The 1st Irish Ranking took place over the weekend of the 10th & 11th of September at DCU in Dublin. All four members of the JOOLA Performance Squad made the trip to the capital. This was the first trip away for Sam Coughlan playing U12/U14 and James Heap U17. Both put in good solid performances and reached the second round in their age group events. Sam also played in the U14 event where he reached the 1/4 Finals of the Plate and was narrowly beaten. Mair Kelly playing in her first year U14 did well to reach the second round and finished in a tough group where she lost to training partner Kerry O'Mahony who went on to reach 5th place. Mair also played well in the U17s taking a set off top player Lyn O'Shea.
James Kelly last year's U10 Champion moved into the U12 event and eased through the opening rounds, he defeated No.3 Seed Conor Gallagher in the 1/4 Finals and pushed Evin McGoven hard in the semi finals. He eventually played Martin Williams in the 3rd/4th play off and won the first two sets. Martin came back in the remainder of the match but it was James who took the points for 3rd and the seeding for the next event.

Munster Ranking
The first Junior Munster Rankings were held at Beech Hill on Sunday 2nd October. West Cork sent three players. Mair Kelly had a brilliant day and surpassed her own expectations reaching the semi final of the U14s defeating Ballincollig's Chloe Brown. She eventually lost to Brielle Brady (Killarney) and finished 4th. The tournament was interrupted in the other events as condensation made the floor unplayable. Players have been asked to return next weekend the play in the U12 and U17 events. We will have a further report on how James Kelly and Sam Coughlan get on in the U12 Boys.

Beech Hill, Munster Rankings Part 2
After the postponed U12 and U17 events the players travelled once more to Cork for the Munster Junior Rankings. The postponement gave an opportunity for 2 more players to join the West Cork Squad, Aoibhinn Keating in the U12 Girls and James Heap in the U17 Boys along with Megan Healy and Anoshi Gohl in the U17 Girls. Aoibhinn playing in the U12 event for the first time got off to a very nervous start and found the going very tough in her first match, however as the day progressed she became more confident and put in far better performances to finish a very creditable 4th place.

James Heap played extremely well and moved easily into the ¼ final stages. He kept this rich vein of form throughout all his matches taking sets from Alan Walsh, Barry Kelleher and Michael Lagan but was unable to convert it into valuable wins and finished 8th. Mair Kelly entered the U17 event with no expectations but after her 4th place finish in the U14 she surprised herself reaching the ¼ Final stages. She saw off team mate Megan Healy to face Lynn O'Shea for the 4th time in a week and was still unable to break down her solid counter hitting style of play but was delighted with a 6th place finish. Megan Healy was beaten by Chloe Brown to finish inside the top 8 and Anoshi Gohl was presented with the Plate Trophy.

James Kelly and Sam Coughlan represented West Cork in the U12 Boys event where both reached the ¼ Final stages. Sam was defeated by ex-West Cork player Tom Walsh and took 8th place in the event. James Kelly went on to beat Zico McSweeney in the Quarters, Karl Walsh in the Semis and Tom Walsh in the Final. This puts James Kelly in the Munster No.1 position for U12 a position he held at U10 all last season.