Table Tennis England, Be Active, Bedford Community Table Tennis Club and Kempston Academy joined forces recently to help upskill and train the next generation of Junior Umpires.

On Monday 4^th November, 9 young people who attend Kempston Academy in Bedford were provided with the opportunity to gain their Junior Umpiring Award to help officiate at the upcoming County School Games Table Tennis events taking place at the academy, between Wednesday 13^th and Friday 15^th November. The qualification obtained will enable the young people to support the organisation of the respective competitions from Year 5/6,  Years 7/8 and Years 9/11.

Christopher Bryden, Area Manager (East) for Table Tennis England, said, “I would like to extend my thanks to Nicola from Be Active, Esteban and Michael from Bedford Community Table Tennis Club and Gavin and Jack from Kempston Academy for organising this opportunity for the young people to gain the opportunity to gain their Junior Umpiring Award. It was great to see a number of young people willing to step up and help support the School Games in Bedfordshire and it’s been nice to offer them a formal qualification, which hopefully they can build upon in the future”.

Gav Fordham, Head of Physical Education at Kempston Academy, comments “A wonderful opportunity for our young table tennis enthusiasts, each of them attend weekly sessions to further improve their practical skills, this opportunity has allowed them to grow their understanding and love for the game as both a player and also recognise the importance an official plays, all participants are looking forward to using their newly acquired skills at next week’s County finals.”

Nicola Ward, Community Engagement Officer and School Games County Finals Lead at Be Active was, “thrilled to be able to give the Young Leaders the opportunity to receive bespoke Table Tennis training from TTE and Bedford Table Tennis Club in preparation for the Table Tennis County Finals next week. Their support in the competition is of huge importance to the smooth running of the event. Thank you to everyone involved.”