A comprehensive survey, launching today, is the first step towards creating a Technical Officials Academy, which aims to ensure our sport has a sustainable, world-class officiating workforce for  the future.

The Academy will transform the landscape, providing a clear pathway into officiating and the training, mentoring and support that umpires, referees and tournament organisers need at every step of their journey.

It aims to reverse a decline in the number of officials in recent years and provide a deep pool of expert and confident officiators in every area of the country, as well as mentoring and supporting those who aspire to officiate at national tournaments and represent England at major international events.

The first stage of this work involves collecting  detailed insights and opinions from the table tennis community, including but not restricted to  current officials. The survey takes around 10 minutes to complete and is anonymous.

Head of Table Tennis Development, Andrew Wilesmith, said: “The feedback from this survey is a vital first step in the development of a programme and pathway that works for the sport and its participants, so I urge the table tennis community to please engage with this to provide their view.”