Engaging more women and girls into the sport is a key focus for Table Tennis England with the aim of gender parity in the future. As part of the new #LevelTheTable diversity and inclusion strategy, Table Tennis England has committed to making key changes in the sport to make it more accessible and inclusive.

The #LevelTheTable funding pot is now open for applications and offers support to organisations to create opportunities for people to play table tennis. The projects need to cover one of the following areas:

• Contribute towards the delivery of Table Tennis England’s Level the Table Strategy
• Support establishment of a new club
• Establish delivery of participation initiatives, such as TT Kidz, Ping in the Community, Bat & Chat, or Back to TT

The #LevelTheTable funding pot is a great opportunity to receive support to increase the number of opportunities for women and girls in the sport. The existing participation programmes are a great starting point to offer female-only sessions. Through previous funding, the Bat and Chat programme has proved a great opportunity to be delivered as women-only by a female coach.

In the Autumn phase of TT Kidz, clubs have chosen to deliver girls-only sessions to encourage more into table tennis. This has enabled girls to play the sport for the first time, removing barriers they may have faced at a mixed gender session.

Projects are encouraged to be innovative and try new ways of engaging women and girls into table tennis. This could include focusing on certain groups and catering the sessions to their needs:

• Linking with a women-only post-natal group to provide their first step back into sport
• Taking table tennis to new communities that wouldn’t attend a traditional club or league session
• Linking with local deliverers that have existing users e.g. University or leisure centres

If you are looking to offer more women and girls’ opportunities and are not sure where to start, or want some support, please get in touch with Jenny Leach on [email protected] who would be happy to go through your plans with you.