3 Hyperball Clubs on Skid Row; Tuffy Extends "Olive Branch"

Rumours are swirling among the Rebound Table Tennis world that at least three HyperBall clubs are on the verge of filing for bankruptcy, being unable to meet their administrative payments.

Several unidentified sources indicate that the difficulties are due to the ongoing delay in the commencement of the 2010 National HyperBall League season, which is still slated to take place "some time later in 2010".

The only identified source is Goulburn Mayor Carol Jones, who, in a stunning statement outside the Big Merino yesterday, slammed HyperBall management for the ongoing delays.

"They rolled into town a few months ago promising big things. Naturally being a small and excitable city we were swept up in the hoo-hah and we put our money where their mouths were. But now it's been months, the honeymoon is over, and while they swan around in their head office down in Melbourne, we've got a small administrative office in Auburn Street going slowly broke as the funds run out. We don't even have enough money for new balls, our players are practicing with rolled up pieces of tin foil for heaven's sake. We'll have to start laying off staff soon. It's not good enough. We need games, we need gate takings. We need action. Nobody is moving forward on this issue".

Meanwhile new ARTTSL President Wilkington Tuffy has moved quickly, releasing a statement aimed at both HyperBall Management and their clubs, indicating that ARTTSL is willing to let by-gones be by-gones and negotiate a return to the fold for rebel clubs, or even a complete re-unification of the game, albeit under ARTTSL's own terms. This rhetoric is very different to that of late former President Bernard Elksteine, who declared that defecting clubs would not be allowed back to ARTTSL under any circumstances, and later died.

HyperBall management have released a short statement denying that any clubs were in trouble, and reiterating that their 2010 season will take place "some time later in 2010". Well, it's September, and we wait.

We wait....