Paris 2024 Olympic Games 

As we settle in to admire the amazing athletes representing Great Britain at the Paralympic Games in Paris, it serves as a timely reminder of the outstanding Olympic Games that concluded just a few weeks ago. It was a privilege to be in Paris for the first week of the Games and I came away with such positive reflections – it was an incredible experience including in the South Paris Arena where the table tennis competition was held and where 230,000 fans produced a stunning atmosphere of noise and excitement. 

I would like to congratulate Anna and Liam for qualifying for the Games and also every one of our team who played their part, no matter how big or small, in ensuring they arrived in Paris ready for competition. 

I would also like to congratulate Nico Caltabiano who was the second umpire for the men’s final and our Board member, Don Parker, who provided English commentary for the table tennis event. It was also great to see some of our wonderful volunteers who travelled to Paris to undertake roles for the Games, such as Howard Briarley and Debbie Oram. It was also great to see, and hear, Andy Ashworth who provided the English language PA in the arena.  I hope you enjoyed reading and watching the content we produced as part of our Olympics coverage – you can read and watch back all of these here.  

It was also fantastic to partner Team GB over the Olympics to deliver their FanZones across the country, with us having a large presence at London Kings Cross. We were supported tremendously by 61 volunteers who were recruited through a campaign and engaged large numbers of people to have a go at table tennis over the nine days we were there. As well as providing additional visibility for the sport during the Games, the Fanzone enabled us to capture the data of nearly 1,000 participants allowing us to nurture some longer-term relationships, create some wonderfully engaging content for our channels and, deliver a fantastic competition on the Team GB App where we gave away an outdoor table tennis table – signed by several Team GB Olympians – with over over 6,000 people entering. You can see inside our Olympic Fanzone here.  

As we now enjoy the Paralympic Games, I wish the GB Para table tennis team every success. 

Membership 

We were delighted to open the new Membership season on 1 August, immediately welcoming back the 8,600 of you on autorenewal and many thousands more who have renewed online or have used our telephone support service. Our membership is up by 3% on this time last year, with a 95% retention rate and 1,344 new subscribers which is very encouraging. 

With the 2024/25 season now underway, please ensure your membership is up to date to continue to access the many benefits including insurance, your free subscription to TTE.TV – the home of English table tennis – early access to tickets to several major international events coming to England soon, including the World Team Table Tennis Championships 2026 being staged at Wembley, all the latest news and information direct to your email inbox, and much more! Read more about the 2024/25 Membership scheme here  

GNW Ping Hub goes from strength to strength 

The Great Northern Warehouse Ping Hub in Manchester continues to go from strength to strength and welcomed people from across the city for some Olympic themed activity. The Hub also played host to a well-attended Olympic Challenge which saw over 20 players compete against each other in an Open competition across the 7 tables. Sponsored by local business Lion’s Den and supported by the Great Northern Warehouse, it was a great afternoon of table tennis. Many of the players were people that don’t normally compete locally or nationally. As a result, through Ping we are continuing to welcome those players that love playing the sport, into the table tennis fold. It was also great to see sponsor investment into the event and over 50 spectators to the event. We are also seeing a direct impact on Table Tennis England membership with over 130 people now signing up to Table Tennis England as a result of their attendance at the Hub and this continues to grow every day. 

National Series 

We were delighted to see the National Series, our new competition designed to support our developing Pathway at U13, Cadet and Junior, begin last weekend. We had some of the most talented players in the country attending and it’ll be exciting to watch as this new format takes shape and progresses over the course of this year. The purpose of this event is to provide more opportunities for our best players to play each other and opportunities for those coming through the pathway to play against the best players, raising the standard across the board. We are also happy to have some of our most prominent clubs hosting and running these events and thanks to Draycott, St Neots, Joola and Nottingham for their support and efforts. For more information on the event go to the National Series page. 

Governance  

AGM and Resolutions  

The AGM was held on 20 July 2024 at 10am and was attended by 73 Company members and members virtually. All resolutions were passed and changes to the Articles have been completed.  Supporting Regulations will be amended to reflect any required changes. 

Regulations Update 

During this period all of the Competition Regulations were updated with the season changes and also the addition of the requirements for the 25/26 that will be effective in line with the Competition Review.  

Safeguarding 

All Safeguarding, policies, guidelines and procedures have been reviewed and are in line with Table Tennis United.  Welfare Officers are required at all Associate and Premier Clubs, so don’t forget to appoint someone in your Club and ensure they have completed the free Safeguarding & Protecting Children Online Course, then upload their certificate. 

If you are new to the role of a Welfare Officer, then please do book onto the Welfare Officers webinar on the 17 October at 6pm.  If you want to improve your knowledge and ask questions of the Safeguarding Team, then book onto the Welfare Officers update webinar on the 18 November at 7pm. 

Governance Reforms  

As part of our ongoing governance reforms, we have made some changes to regulations that address the term ‘In Good Standing’ and what this means in the context of Table Tennis England and our governance.   

In reviewing the previous regulations, it became apparent that there were no clear criteria to what made an organisation ‘In Good Standing’, or indeed, what it actually meant! 

What we did know what that only two organisations held such status, but there has been no administration or communication of this since the 2015/16 season. Furthermore, both organisations did not wish to affiliate to Table Tennis England, and so after discussion by the Board, it was agreed that the term was not appropriate for non -affiliated organisations, but should be for individual members and affiliated bodies – the regulation was therefore amended as follows, which is similar to the recognised definition:  

1.9 Good Standing is the status of an Affiliated Member or Affiliated Organisation that is registered as such with the Company. An Affiliated Member or Affiliated Organisation is not classed as in Good Standing if they are in legal dispute with the Company, are in breach of the Articles or regulations or a code of conduct, have outstanding monies due to the Company or are currently subject to suspension or other sanction under the Company’s Disciplinary Regulations. 

However, we remain keen to ensure that non-affiliated bodies still have a role to play in the growth, development and delivery table tennis in England, and as such it was felt that the best way to work in partnership with such a body was to develop a Memorandum of Understanding. Discussions have taken place with the VETTS Society and British Universities & Colleges Sport (BUCS). While we are keen for the MoU to work for both parties, we also have to be able to protect the integrity of the sport, and our national ranking is one of those areas where we are unable to be flexible. Anyone who plays in an approved / regulated tournament must have the requisite membership, and the tournament organiser is required to pay the relevant fee, to have the results uploaded into the ranking system, in the way that any member or affiliated body must do. We recognise this position might not be popular with some and could lead to some organisation withdrawing from our tournament calendar, however, we have to be fair to ALL members and tournament organisers. 

We look forward to discussing collaborative opportunities with any organisations that wishes to develop a way of working with us if their circumstances don’t lend themselves to affiliation in the usual way. 

Chief Executive Recruitment 

As I enter my last few months in my role (my last working day is 12 December), the Board is in the process of recruiting the new Table Tennis England Chief Executive. The process is well underway and the next stage interviews will take place during September. An announcement on the appointment will follow in due course. 

Best wishes  
Adrian Christy