Hastings club Tackleway is going from strength to strength – so much so that it has twice outgrown its venue in recent times.

Club administrator and coach Keith Lindsay reports an upsurge in adults and juniors attending weekly coaching sessions.

Keith said the club moved some practice sessions from its small league venue – where it could accommodate only three tables on non-match nights – to a larger community hall in Westfield, East Sussex, around 20 months ago. The new venue could accommodate five or six tables.

A grant from Active Rother allowed the club to finance two new Level 2 coaches and the increased coaching capacity meant, once again, the club had to look for a bigger base.

Keith said: “Attendance improved, and a handful of new players started to played league matches, with others continuing to attend. A few weeks ago, we had to squeeze in seven tables, so something had to be done.

“Previous research by club members found a solution and we moved our weekly coached adult sessions to Ark Alexandra Academy in Hastings, where we managed to fill the hall with 10 tables, set up in the Alan Booth-Jones cricket centre.

“We had 20 players in attendance for the first session, with one L1 and two L2 coaches helping the players. As an added bonus, Matthew Porter, a Level 3 Head Coach from Worthing TTC, also dropped in to further enhance the session.

“Matt was quickly involved helping as many as he could in the two -our slot, which was much appreciated by all.

“Wednesday junior sessions are also held at Ark Alexandra, under the banner of Simply Table Tennis, set up by L2 coach James Gorridge, a Tackleway club member and with support from Hastings and District Table Tennis Association.

“It is anticipated that session will also grow and develop more new players for the sport, so we look forward to the future of table tennis locally.”