Grantham sportsman rewarded in New Year’s Honours

Grantham table tennis coach John Mapletoft has received a just reward in the The Queen’s New Year’s Honours list.

The 84-year-old, has been awarded a British Empire Medal (BEM) for services to table tennis.

He told us “although I’m the main coach it’s not about me, it’s about all the people I’ve coached over the years. It’s all about the people.”

The Boys Central pupil was given a ping-pong set when he was about 12, playing on the kitchen table, but first started playing seriously as a young teenager, at what was the Wesleyan Youth Club in Bridge End Road.

He has been involved running town and county table tennis teams and various committees ever since.

Even though he’s retired, he continues to coach.

He still encourages youngsters at primary schools running breakfast clubs, lunch time clubs and after school clubs in addition to evenings as well spending up to 30 hours per week.

For all these years of dedication, he was awarded the ETTA Children’s Coach of the Year trophy at the England Open event in Sheffield in 2011.

John began coaching in the 1960s and qualified as an ETTA coach in 1971.

In those early days, sessions were held at the Brownlow School building in Finkin Street, formerly the old Girls’ Central School, and from there progress was quite rapid.

The Grantham League quickly swelled from two divisions of juniors to six.

Like John, the town’s interest in table tennis has never waned and, in fact, continues to rise.

Arbon’s were a major sponsor when play was concentrated at Walton Girls’ High School, and then Terry Bly’s Plamore Sport took a major part in the sport’s development within Grantham.

John then went on to help found Cliffedale Chandlers Table Tennis Club in the mid-1990s.

He has been involved in the development of many champions, from the early 1970s through to the present day, ranging from schools, county, regional and even national successes.

For him, one of the most prestigious areas of development had been working out of Grantham College where a table tennis academy has been running for the past 10 years.

He said another monumental event in the sport’s progression in the town had been the building of Grantham Table Tennis Centre at The Meres, which this year celebrates its 20th anniversary.

And although he has been asked to coach elsewhere during his table tennis career he has staunchly stayed with his roots in the Grantham and district area.

He worked as a milkman, delivered bread for Webster’s bakery, had a spell at Kontaks and the Leisure Centre in Union Street, but spent most of working life (about 30 years) at Aveling-Barford.

Until recently, he was applying  table tennis to help people with serious illnesses, such as Parkinson’s and dementia, as part of a scheme with the Church of Ascension.

In 2012 he was chosen to run with the Olympic torch.