WTT Feeder Manchester

Following the success of securing the ITTF World Team Table Tennis Championships 2026 at OVO Arena, Wembley, we were delighted to announce the staging of our first World Table Tennis (WTT) event which will be held at the Manchester Velodrome from 1 – 4 February 2024.

We are currently developing the ticketing strategy for the event and will be announcing how you can join us for this momentous event very soon.

Please keep an eye on Over the Net, our social media channels and the TTE website.

Members’ Webinar

We are looking forward to hosting another ‘Question Time’ style webinar for all members of Table Tennis England at 3pm on Wednesday 15 November. Members will be invited to submit questions to the Senior Leadership Team.

Registration details can be found in this link.

Meeting with Company Members

If you are a Company Member (County and League Representatives), we look forward to welcoming you to the first meeting with Company Members which will be held via Zoom on 27 November 2023 from 6pm – 8pm.

Please note this is not a ‘Question Time’ type meeting which is available to all members of TTE; the audience is restricted to our Company Members who can register via this link.

Company Members will be able to discuss any matters relevant to the organisation, with members of the Board and Senior Leadership Team.

Once registered, Company Members will receive an agenda for the meeting and be invited to submit a question / item for discussion.

National Competition Review

Board have approved Phase III of the TTE National Competition Review – a blueprint to deliver a fully ‘fit-for-purpose’ competition programme for the future growth and success of TT in England.

Board’s decision marks the point that the project moves from ‘strategy’ to ‘implementation’ – Phase IV of the project comprises phased implementation of the agreed developments; this will begin immediately and start to take shape over the next few months. Each stakeholder group has been contacted directly to discuss next steps, and open member forums have been scheduled to help members understand the changes and implications.

Members can see further information and an overview of developments here: Competition Review: Go-ahead given to implement new structure – including FAQs

Safe Sport

Providing a safe table tennis environment is YOUR responsibility; it is equally OUR responsibility.

No child, or adult, should ever experience a negative, threatening or abusive environment in our sport and I am pleased to be working with UK Sport, the home country sports councils and other NGBs to establish a vision to create safe sport and develop a common safeguarding framework that would provide greater consistency in the way safeguarding is managed in this country.

I have long been critical of the structure for safeguarding across the British sport system. While there is some great work being undertaken by various agencies, such a critical part of our sporting system is too disconnected; we also have a responsibility to look at this through the lens of participants, parents and coaches and not just that of sports administrators.

This feels like a real moment of change, and I am hopeful we can align across the various parts of our sector to enable safe sport for everyone.

Governance

Board Recruitment

The recruitment for the Chair of the Board has now been completed and we were delighted to announce the appointment of Nick Donald this week.

The vacant Appointed Director position will remain vacant until Nick has settled in his role and when the Board have discussed the requirement of the role.

National Councillors

The position of National Council Chair has been agreed to restart and the Select Committee for the Constitution will continue to support this position until it has been fulfilled.

Environmental Social Governance

Work has begun on our Policy and Strategy in this area and our Internal Working Group have been working with BASIS who are and have been working with many sporting bodies. We are looking to get our first draft to the Board in December and will start to share wider in the new year.

UK Anti-Doping (UKAD)

We have had approval from UKAD on our Strategy and Training Plan and the performance team are currently working through this with the varying squads including some parent workshops.

Governance Reforms

We continue on our journey to ensure we are a High Performing Organisation and have started reviewing our operational committees and have recently merged our Rules Committee & Process Review Group to create a highly knowledgeable committee of volunteers who will now be part of a committee called the Articles and Regulations Committee (ARC).

We have also established a Working Group on the Articles to ensure they again support the organisation and provide the clarity that they should do in the governance of Table Tennis England. We have representatives from our Board, County, Leagues and Advisory Committees to ensure the diversity of views are taken into account throughout the process.

The Advisory Committees have been established for 6 months now and the terms of reference for these committees have been reviewed and approved by the Board at their September meeting and these can be found on our website.

Membership

It’s fantastic to be able to report that Membership numbers are now at 25,500, a 7% increase on this time last year and with over 3,500 brand new members joining us. The auto-renewal option has been chosen by over 9,000 Members and the new Direct Debit payment option is proving extremely popular with many of you.

The review of the Table Tennis England Membership Scheme remains ongoing and high priority. However, as it is a complex project that requires significant input from various stakeholders it means we cannot always move with the pace we would like, but I’m delighted that a new scheme has been conceptualised – shaped by feedback from Members – with the implications currently being assessed before being released for some wider consultation.

A Technology Consultant is being sought to help navigate the potential changes needed to the membership platform as well as to support more broadly our continued digital transformation. A scheme for our entry level and recreational audience has also been built with an online platform built to pilot a different type of user journey to traditional membership. This will be tested in our Ping! and TT Kidz programmes over the coming months.

Staff

We are delighted to welcome the following new staff members:

Sophie Storey joined us on 11 September as Competition & Events Support Officer and Claire Friend joined us on 12 September as our Safeguarding and Disciplinary Officer.

We wish Sophie and Claire every success in their respective roles.

Personal News

I am somewhat humbled to share that I have been awarded Racket Sport CEO of the Year 2023 – England by CEO Monthly Magazine.

While I am delighted to accept such recognition, it is a reflection on the fantastic work undertaken by our staff, Board and wider volunteer network who have been incredible during my time here.

I would like to thank you all for being such a key part in our ongoing progress.

I was also delighted to be appointed to the Rules Committee of the International Table Tennis Federation at their AGM in Bangkok in August.

I look forward to playing our part in the future development of table tennis across the world.

Best wishes
Adrian Christy