This trophy has been awarded in 1940 in a table tennis competition to a sporting team called C.M.I. Nothing is known about this team except that it appears to be one sponsored by a local Warrnambool church. The Warrnambool Table Tennis Association is affiliated with the Victorian Table Tennis Association and has its headquarters in Cramer Street Warrnambool. This cup is of interest as a local Warrnambool sports trophy awarded during World War Two.This is a silver cup mounted on a brown Bakelite base. The cup has two ornamental handles and an inscription on one side of the cup. The silver is somewhat tarnished.‘Reg. No. 15580’ ‘W.T.T.A. Presented to C.M.I. No. 1 Premiers & Champions 1940’ warrnambool table tennis association, history of warrnambool

This trophy is one of several from the 1930s awarded as part of the Warrnambool inter-church indoor sports competitions. One of the sponsors of this competition was Fletcher Jones, the well-known clothing manufacturer. He had his head office and main factory in Warrnambool. This trophy was awarded for rope quoits. The game of quoits consists of competitors throwing four or five rings or hoops on to a raised spike some metres away. The hoops are generally made of plaited rope and the game is said to have been started or popularized by sailors on board ship. The trophy was won by the Congregational Men’s Institute (C.M.I.). A Congregational Church was opened in Liebig Street in Warrnambool in 1864 and was transferred to Henna Street in 1940. This church was sold to the Salvation Army in 1979 when the Congregational Church merged with the Methodist Church to form the Uniting Church. This cup is of interest as it is a 1930s trophy awarded by the now-defunct Inter Church Indoor Sports Association of Warrnambool. This is an electro plated nickel silver cup with two ornate side handles and a stem in a bulbous shape attached to a silver base. The cup is mounted on a Bakelite stand.‘Inter Church Indoor Sports Association Cup Won by C.M.I. Rope Quoit Champions 1934’congregational church warrnambool, inter church indoor sports association warrnambool, history of warrnambool