Vale Ken Cole

*** UPDATE ***

Ken Cole’s Funeral Details

Thu 21 Sep 2023, 11:30 am

South Chapel at Rookwood Cemetery, 1 Hawthorne Avenue, Rookwood NSW

*** UPDATE ***

It is with great sadness that I inform you of the passing of Ken Cole. He did so much for Veterans Table Tennis in NSW and Beyond.

Ken Cole has been a great table tennis player but his contribution to the game is much more significant. Ken served on the Board of NSW Table Tennis for nearly 20 years as President, Vice-president, or Secretary. In recognition of his outstanding service to the game in NSW, he was made a life member in 2003.

Undoubtedly, Ken’s greatest contribution to our sport came from his 17 years as Chairman of the National Veterans Committee. During his tenure and beyond, he worked tirelessly to ensure the game of table tennis was firmly entrenched in the Veterans community. Through his leadership and strong support of the game, Veterans table tennis continued to grow and achieve new heights both in standard of play and player involvement. Largely owing to Ken’s involvement, the Australian National Veterans Championships is the outstanding tournament it is today.

Through Ken’s close connection with our New Zealand cousins, he and Bruce Pemberthy created the Australian/New Zealand Trans Tasman Test Match. The best players from each age group represent their respective countries. The Test Match is played on the Thursday night before the New Zealand Veterans Championships. To this day there is great rivalry between the two countries which resulted in a draw in 2023.

When Ken retired from the National Veterans Committee due to ill health in 2015, Table Tennis Australia recognised his outstanding contribution to Veterans Table Tennis by creating the Ken Cole Trophy. This award is presented to the Best and Fairest Veteran player in any given year then in 2019 he was made a Life Member of TTA. He will be sorely missed within the table tennis community. May he rest in peace.

Regards

Jennifer