Table Tennis England’s CEO, Adrian Christy gives his latest update on what the organisation has been working on and what is coming soon.

Commonwealth Games Team Selection

The team to represent England at the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham was announced on 7 June and our congratulations and best wishes go to the following players:

Sue Bailey, Charlotte Bardsley, Daniel Bullen, Paul Drinkhall, Tin-Tin Ho, Jack Hunter-Spivey, Tom Jarvis, Mollie Patterson, Fliss Pickard, Liam Pitchford, Maria Tsaptsinos, Sam Walker, Ross Wilson.

Upcoming Events

Please see below a list of upcoming senior events that will be taking place this month and the players you can follow at each: 

WTT Senior Contender – Lima, Peru 14th-19th June: Liam Pitchford, Sam Walker

WTT Senior Contender – Zagreb, Croatia 13th-19th June: Tom Jarvis

WTT Senior Feeder – Otocec, Slovenia – 19th-26th June: Paul Drinkhall, Sam Walker, Tom Jarvis, Shayan Siraj, Maria Tsaptsinos, Charlotte Bardsley, Mollie Patterson  

Board Decisions

Please see below the decisions that were taken at the Board meeting on 27 May 2022:

  • The Board considered a proposal from the Talent & Performance Committee to amend the ranking override. The Board agreed that the override will only apply to the top 75 players in the senior list and will be removed completely for junior and cadet players.

This amendment will be effective from 1 August 2022.

  • The Board approved the audited accounts
  • The Board approved the Governance Statement, the School Regulations, and revisions to the Terms of Reference for the Nominations Committee
  • The Board approved the outline structure of the reset of Table Tennis England’s strategy.

Work will now progress, including wider consultation, with the intention to present the new strategy for table tennis in England, to the Board in September.

Women’s Sport Campaign

BBC Sport has launched a women’s sport campaign to showcase the phenomenal female talent that will be on show at major events in the summer. We Know Our Place celebrates how far women’s sport has come since the 2019 Change the Game campaign, which challenged out-dated perceptions.

Details of the campaign can be found here.

Organisational Health of NGBs

UK Sport has recently established a new Sporting System team to support NGBs with their Organisational Health.

A recent survey was carried out across sports and over the coming months, UK Sport will be working with funded NGBs and Home Country Sports Councils to shape and pilot elements of this work.

This collaborative approach is welcomed by Table Tennis England, and we look forward to working with UK Sport to strengthen our organisation further.

Staffing Update

We are very sorry to say goodbye to the following colleagues and wish them every future success:

  • Victoria Wiegleb (Executive Assistant and Deputy Safeguarding Officer) has joined the safeguarding team at the England and Wales Cricket Board

We welcome the following to the team at Table Tennis England:

  • Sue Wressell joins us from Badminton England on 20 June and will be the new Executive Assistant to the Chief Executive
  • Kevin Taylor has joined us on a one-year part-time contract as our Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games Project Manager
  • Nicole Flaherty will start as a Women and Girls Project Lead from 27th June

Competition & Events

Development

  • Expressions of interest have opened for clubs and community partners to run activation events linked to B2022, to take advantage of the impact and engagement opportunities of a home Games. https://www.tabletennisengland.co.uk/join-us-in-getting-more-people-playing/
  • A Women and Girls Project Lead will be starting at the end of June, part of this work will include working intensely with 10 clubs to establish Women and Girls only sections.
  • The project bid for a 12th year of funding from the Jack Petchey Foundation is being developed and will be submitted shortly.
  • The TT Clubs platform continues to evolve with major updates and improvements set to be implemented in time for the new season.
  • TT Kidz opportunities continue to grow and following a pilot across four Everyone Active Leisure sites, there is keen interest on both sides to roll out TT Kidz nationally. Where these take place, clubs and leagues will be communicated with at all stages.
  • New Ping Pong Parlours continue to open, with the latest being the re-opening of the Sunderland Parlour. https://www.tabletennisengland.co.uk/ping-pong-parlour-returns-to-sunderland/

Marcomms

  • Our focus continues to be on the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham and the opportunities this presents for table tennis. With just under 50 days to go, updates will be shared via our Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games landing page, OTN and our social media channels. We hope everyone caught sight of the recent Team England announcement! Please look out for further news and engaging content.
  • We streamed matches from the Mark Bates U11 and U13 National Championships on the 11 & 12 June on Facebook and will also be showing the Junior National Cup on the 18 & 19 June. We can offer this enhanced live streaming service because of our Sport England B2022 funding and hope this will help us to reach new audiences and build a larger following in the lead up to the games. We are also providing opportunities for new Commentators to develop their craft at the Junior National Cup.
  • Our membership satisfaction survey will launch shortly; this will also dovetail with the launch of our membership renewal campaign as the new membership season is not far away.

Governance

  • The tenure for Simon Griew ended at the end of May and Tom Purcell at the end of June after eight years serving on the Board and we thank them both for all their many contributions to the sport.
  • Reappointment of National Councillors is currently under way and the deadline for submission is 15 June 2022.
  • Preparation for the AGM is well under way and is due to take place on the 16 July 2022 at Cranfield University, Mitchell Hall, Cranfield, Bedfordshire, MK43 0AL. Any suggested amendments to the resolutions should be submitted by 11 June and all paperwork will be distributed on 25 June.
  • We are currently preparing to conduct interviews with Volunteers that have put themselves forward to be on the Disciplinary Committee for the next cycle and we appreciate them all putting themselves forward.
  • We continue to work through the Code of Sports Governance Action plan to ensure our ongoing compliance with the Code and ensure the long-term support and partnership of Sport England and the funding that brings.

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