Mark Bates Ltd Senior National Championships 

I start this Bulletin by recognising the continued support from Mark Bates that plays such an important part in enabling us to stage the Senior National Championships. 

I would also like to thank our volunteers and technical officials whose tireless contribution to the Championships is never taken for granted. 

Thank you also to our staff who together with our volunteers, staged another wonderful event. 

Finally, it was great to see so many members and fans at the David Ross Sports Village, University of Nottingham – I know how much the players appreciate your support. 

Congratulations to all the players who qualified and particularly to our 2024 winners who will always be able to refer to themselves as a National Champion. You can view all the results on our website, see pictures on our Flickr page and watch back all the action on TTE.TV. Our coverage this year, particularly on Finals Day, was outstanding and I hope you enjoy watching – or watching again – some top-class English table tennis, including some exciting performances from our young players. Don’t forget, members of Table Tennis England can view all this content completely free of charge!  

Members will also be interested to know that Mark Bates Ltd have recently launched a fantastic new app which enables you to easily manage all of your insurance policies, documents and key dates in one place. Download the Insura App here today and enjoy exclusive offers, discounts and rewards. 

Pride of Table Tennis Awards 2024 

The Mark Bates Ltd Senior National Championships once again provided the platform to recognise those nominated for their outstanding contribution to our sport in our Pride of Table Tennis Awards. 

We were overwhelmed by both the quantity and quality of the nominations from all over the country and my congratulations go to you all. 

Our 2024 winners and runners up are: 

Young Male Volunteer of the Year 
Winner: Bailey Page 
Runners-up: Alekss Belskis and Alain Shibu 

Young Female Volunteer of the Year 
Winner: Heilam Tse 
Runner-up: Maddy Lyon 

Male Volunteer of the Year 
Winner: Tajudeen Alao 
Runners-up: Rob Cook and Gary Kenton 

Female Volunteer of the Year 
Winners: Clare Flynn and Christine Burke 
Runners-up: Karen Smith and Megan Bollen 

Contribution to Table Tennis 
Winner: Ian Wu 
Runner-up: Bob Baker 

Lifetime Achievement Award 
Winner: Colin French 
Runners-up: John Waters and David Wiles 

New Board Appointments 

Anna Whowell and Katharine Curran have been appointed to the Board of Table Tennis England after an open recruitment process. 

They replace Steve Kemish, who is leaving the Board after completing a full four-year term, and the vacant position left following the resignation of Priya Samuel in 2023. 

Please click this link to read the full announcement. 

Major Event Strategy, including World Team Table Tennis Championships 2026  

I am delighted that we have now established Table Tennis International Events Ltd, the new company which will lead and oversee the exciting major event strategy, including the World Team Table Tennis Championships in London in 2026. 

We are delighted to announce two leadership appointments with Richard Scruton as the chair of the new company; a partnership between Table Tennis England, the International Table Tennis Federation and World Table Tennis, and Ed Warner as the Chair of the World Team Table Tennis Championships Event Delivery Board.  

Recruitment is now under way to build the governance team that will play a key role in supporting the Championships. 

Please click this link to learn more about Richard and Ed. 

We have moved! 

I shared previously that our Performance Programme would be moving from the University of Nottingham to the English Institute of Sport Sheffield (EISS). After a very busy few months we have completed the move and are now settling in where our focus through the spring and the summer will be on our Paris 2024 Olympic preparations. 

Transforming the way we develop coaches 

A key part of Table Tennis United, is to recognise the importance of investing in the learning and development of coaches, from grass roots through to our high performance environment. 

I was therefore delighted that we were able to announce recently that work is under way to develop our approach that will revolutionise the structure of table tennis coaching in England. 

The strategy will focus on continual development of coaches, based on recognising excellence wherever they work, rather than on the current qualification-based system. 

While we do this work, all coaching courses – except those which are already scheduled – will be paused while the project moves forward. 

All current coaching qualifications will continue to be fully recognised and the way coaches currently work on a daily basis will not be affected. 

We will communicate regularly with all coaches and the wider membership over the next year as the strategy takes shape. 

Please click here to learn more and also hear from our Head of Performance Development, Gavin Evans about this important and exciting work.  

Technical Official Academy 

Our commitment to support learning and development is extended to Technical Officials and I am delighted to announce our intent to establish a Technical Officials Academy that will seek to ensure we have a large workforce of outstanding Officials who are able to support our competition calendar at all levels, as well as step into the arena of major international events that we will host in this country. 

The working group has begun to audit the existing workforce including understanding where we have gaps in qualifications and, geographically; this will help us focus where our priorities need to be. 

Look out for a survey that will be going out to all technical officials, clubs, leagues and players on this subject as your input will be crucial in shaping this vital piece of work. Watch this space for further updates as this exciting project develops. 

Area Network Web Pages 

Our Area Networks have a new online presence to make it easier for you to keep track of the exciting work your local Area Manager is doing and to see what the Local Organising Group’s priorities are, through Local Delivery Plans. The pages are designed to provide more localised news, monthly blogs from your Area Manager, advice and guidance on topics such as funding and case studies on good practice from around the country. If you have news items or good practice you wish to share through the Area Network pages then please get in contact with your Area Manager.  

In addition, our first Area Digest eNews will be out in April with a summary of all the great work happening so please ensure you are ‘opted in’ to recieve our Over the Net eNewsletter to access this.  
 
The Area Network page can be found by clicking here.

Members’ Question Time 

Table Tennis England is pleased to invite members to register to attend our next Question Time meeting via Zoom which is scheduled to take place on 4 April 2024 at 10am. 

Please note you must register in advance for this meeting by clicking here. 

 After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting – you will also receive details advising how you can pose a question to the Board members and members of the Senior Leadership Team. 

Please can we ask that you register your attendance, and a question if you wish, no later than 3pm on Tuesday 2 April. 

Please note this meeting is not intended for Company Members, as the meeting with our Company Members was held recently. The Question Time meetings are offered to the wider membership of Table Tennis England. 

Governance and Compliance 

AGM / Resolutions / General Meeting Regulations  

At the January National Council Meeting some members requested the Board to reconsider its decision to have a virtual only AGM, this was discussed at Board again in February and the Board confirmed to continue with a virtual only meeting.    

The work on the resolutions to improve the clarity of our Articles was completed with consultation with National Council in January, and further amendments based on their feedback and then further consultation at the company member meeting in March.  

Due to the integration of the three committees Rules, Process Review and Standing Orders, the General Meeting Regulations have been redrafted to include areas covered in the old Standing Orders.  These will go to Governance and Risk Committee for Approval in May. 

Code for Sports Governance  

The remaining requirements to comply with the Code for Sports Governance, which included our People Plan and our Sustainability Policy, have been submitted to Sport England for review and approval, we hope to hear in May whether any further information is required.   

UK Anti-Doping 

All paperwork for our ongoing compliance to the UKAD requirements were submitted, the outcome of our submission should be received by the end of April.  

Annual Returns  

The process for Leagues to complete their Annual Returns started on the 21st February. This is the requirement for leagues to be affiliated and part of the process to have voting rights, along with the appointment of a Company Member.  Currently, 153 leagues have completed to date.  

Best wishes 
Adrian Christy