Welcome to an update of table tennis activity within the North West. If you would like to promote and share a table tennis activity or project that is going particularly well in your area, please feel free to get in touch and let me know.
Great Northern Ping Hub
The Great Northern Warehouse Ping Hub has been open since January and has gone from strength to strength. It has now been agreed with the venue to extend the project until 31st December.
The location, in the heart of Manchester with good transport links, has proved to be very successful, with around 40 participants attending daily during the 10 hours of opening, equating to approximately 2,680 participants in just over two months. (25/1 – 31/3). A focus on good quality equipment (seven ITTF approved tables) and lighting has broadened the appeal to both social and club players.
Engagement with various groups has been positively received with weekly coaching sessions taking place at the Hub. Ethnic and female participation numbers have been particularly encouraging, with one-third of participants being women. 17 schools initially signed up for the TT Kidz taster sessions with Andrea Holt & Dan O’Connell. New contacts have been made with Manchester clubs and leagues, who are invited to hold club takeover days.
Pride of TT Awards
Congratulations to North West recipients of the Pride of TT Awards announced in March, including:
- Audrey McGing – Maghull TTC/Liverpool and Southport leagues (Female volunteer of the year)
- Maddy Lyons – Halton TTC (Female Young Volunteer of the Year)
- David Graham – Crosby High TTC (Male Volunteer of the Year)
- James Bowman – Halton TTC (Male Young Volunteer of the Year)
- Thomas Lacey – East Lancashire TTL (Contribution to Table Tennis)
- Khamal Hussain – King’s Road TTC, Trafford (Contribution to Table Tennis)
- David Graham – Crosby High TTC (Lifetime Achievement Award)
- Brian Kean – Flixton TTC, Urmston (Lifetime Achievement Award)
Thank you for all your commitment week in, week out 52 weeks of the year. Without volunteers like yourselves we quite simply wouldn’t have a sport. 👏🏓🏓 A full list of all the awards can be found here.
Sport England Small Grants Funding
Congratulations to Ellesmere Port & Chester TT Centre, who were awarded £4,049 in April towards their new junior development programme taking place at the Ellesmere Port Sports Village. This round of applications closed on 31st March but a new round is due to be announced this month.
TT Clubs Spotlight
Two clubs in the North West who are using the TT Clubs platform to help run and promote their club activities, manage memberships and table bookings are: Crewe Central TTC and recent registration Ellesmere Port & Chester TTC.
Coaching & Officials Courses
Sign-ups for the Level 1 coaching course planned to take place at UCLan on 13 April and 25 May with Dan O’Connell have been oversubscribed with 14 registrations. The next Level 2 Course is planned at UCLan on 3 June and 3 Aug 2024. Details of all courses can be seen here.
Mark Bates Ltd Under 10 – Under 13 National Championships 2024
Do you have any talented under-13s? This season, the U11 & U13 National Championships is evolving to become a broader U10, U11, U12 & U13 event and will be an open competition. All events are unrestricted by ranking, including doubles at U12 and U13 age-groups, therefore players do not need a ranking to gain entry to the event nor do they need to be invited, though do need experience of competitive competition. These changes provide more youth opportunities without the proviso of needing to have an existing national ranking. The event is on the 8th & 9th June at WV Active Aldersley in Wolverhampton. The deadline for entry is midnight on the 8th of May. Click here for more information and to sign up.
TT Kidz
TT Kidz sessions have recently started at Whitehaven Youth Harbour (Cumbria) with 10 seven-to-11-year-olds signed up, this adds to the sessions already taking place at Halton (Cheshire). Further sessions are planned to take place at Ellesmere Port, Crewe (Cheshire) and Ramsbottom TTC (Lancs) later in the year. If your club is interested register your interest in running a session here.
TT Kidz promotion area at Ellesmere Port Sports Village
See previous blogs on our NW Development Page:
Best wishes
Martin
