Upson's waiting game to see best of Brum at Premier level

By Colin Stoner - Birmingham Post

Simon Upson is not only a man on a mission.  He is a man with a vision.  The mission is to develop table tennis through a far-reaching youth programme and give youngsters a positive sporting passion.  And the vision is to one day see Birmingham with a home-grown team competing at the top level nationally.

A best of Brum versus the rest of Britain.  It will take some time since Kingshurst Bribar are currently the only Brum-based team in the British League and they head into this weekend's second round of fixtures in mid-table in Division Two South and Midlands.  In his role as team manager and as the mentor in a flourishing coaching set-up for youngsters at the North Solihull club, Upson knows there is no short-term fix in both his targets.

But at least this weekend he will be able to field his strongest team in the four matches — two on each day — at Southall in London. And Upson believes the squad of Steve Bertie, Mike Browne, Scott Prime, Gareth Hayward and Navinder Matharu can make serious inroads in the standings.  “In the first round of matches, we won one, drew two and lost one but we didn't have our strongest team out,” said Upson. “Scott couldn't play on the Saturday because he was playing football and then Mike couldn't play on the Sunday.  “This weekend we are at full-strength. If we can win three out of our four games then we will be right up near the top of the table. We can certainly put ourselves in the mix.”

Kingshurst have been flying the flag at the British League level for the past decade after Handsworth Victoria, under the Chan Construction banner, came and went. But Kingshurst's best season was to finish third in Division One.  With many top clubs bringing in internationals from across Europe to fill their numbers, it is a mighty step up in class.  But Upson is convinced Birmingham can develop its own players to compete.  “Three of our lads are Kingshurst products — Steve, Mike and Scott — and two of them live half a mile from the club. And Gareth and Nav have both come through the junior ranks at Streetly and Colebridge so it just shows the talent is there.  “Nothing would make me feel more proud than to see a team of Birmingham players representing the city in the Premier Division.