Centres for Excellence

Centres for Excellence aim to significantly increase the quality and quantity of players in the England performance pathway.

There are currently eight Table Tennis England Centres of Excellence, hosted by different partners across England.

Background

This programme stems from a Table Tennis England review of the sports talent pathway in a search for future stars to challenge the likes of Liam Pitchford and Paul Drinkhall, and succeed on the world stage. This review has highlighted the need for a more robust system at the base of the pathway with high quality coaching and access to the right environment to develop talented players.

Aims & objectives

The England Performance Pathway’s objectives are:

To help English players find out what they are capable of and;
To support those athletes with the capablity to at least reach the top 20 in Europe by the time they are 18 (in order that they are sought by other clubs, nations and programmes).

And the Centres for Excellence are specifically charged with providing access and opportunity for players to access high quality coaching that will enable them to progress up the performance pathway as far as they are capable of.

How?

This programme is supported by Sport England. Each Centre will operate as a partnership between Table Tennis England and local clubs and organisations aiming to create a financially sustainable high quality environment.

Centres for Excellence will provide extra coaching and support for the best young prospects and create a pathway for them to join the England 9-13 Squad and eventually the England Youth Squad.

Each Centre will grow a squad of up to 20 players aged under 14 years, providing the quantity and quality of training available on a weekly basis to enable the young players to find out what they are capable of.

Centres may be focussed around a central ‘hub’ club with a series of linked satellite clubs or sessions, providing access for new players and increasing competition within the programme. Strengthening the lower levels of the England Performance Pathway, this initiative will provide the sport with a stable foundation for the future.

Outcomes

Better at table tennis: There will be more players performing at a higher level as a result of this programme
Better at learning: The players will be better equipped to learn and are therefore better prepared for the next stages of their individual talent journey
Better at competing: The players will be better equipped to deal with the various environments they will encounter in the next stages of their journey and be more self reliant and self sufficient as a results of their time in the Centre for Excellence.