With the excitement of the Commonwealth Games getting ever greater with the announcement of our England squad this month, look at how TT Kidz is encouraging a new generation of junior players.
TT Kidz aims to provide a fun, engaging and inspiring first experience in table tennis for children aged 7-to-11-years-olds.
Over the last two phases, close to 700 new children have engaged with the game for the first time!
The initiative is proving a worthy addition to a club’s offering with 98% of children surveyed finding the sessions fun and 99% of parents satisfied with the value for money.
93% of children would also like to play more table tennis following the programme – so if you’re looking to engage more juniors and start a new beginners’ session, TT Kidz could be just the tool to do this.
It has been great in developing beginning players and getting them ready to join the local club.
Quote from a Premier Club.
The programme will once again be running in October 2022 with the centralised booking system open during the Commonwealth Games when we hope a new generation of players will be exposed to table tennis. To support this legacy, Premier Clubs delivering the TT Kidz programme for the first time will be provided with a free kit bag and training worth over £300!
For more information, why not express your club’s interest here?!
Two clubs that have benefited from TT Kidz have been Halton Table Tennis Club in the North-West, as well as Goodwin Table Tennis Club in Hull.
Goodwin formed in July 2018 and out of 80 members only three were juniors. To address this, the club ran two TT Kidz projects and now have close to 40 juniors attending each week with plans to develop a local junior league and put teams into the National Cadet & Junior Leagues for the first time.
TT Kidz was the catalyst to attracting new juniors. After the initial eight weeks we have kept the sessions running. This has also acted as an advert to attracting other kids such as friendship groups. It’s kids their own age and level and has now built into a regular group.
Dave Randerson, Chair Goodwin Table Tennis Club.
After losing coaches who could deliver in the daytime, for Halton Table Tennis Club TT Kidz was a great opportunity to keep promoting the club to under-11s. The club have also used the programme to support their older juniors with some leadership skills by allowing them to be involved with the delivery of the sessions. So far, Halton have had 79 under-11s engage with the game and club through TT Kidz, with several going onto to compete for the North-West at the recent inter regional championships.
Over the last two phases we have also seen a small number of girls-only TT Kidz initiatives, with great success in engaging new under-11 girls into the game. Growing this number is a key priority for this coming Autumn.
One such club was Stratford-upon-Avon TTC; by having a girls-only environment, you can really cater your sessions and coaching to ensure the girls feel confident and enjoy taking part. Feedback from previous all-girls TT Kidz sessions have said that the girls really support each other and there is a real united community in the sessions. Having the girls start all together may also mean that you will retain them after the eight weeks as they have an established social group to play in.
To express your clubs interest please click here!
Benefits of running TT Kidz
- Centralised booking system – Table Tennis England does all the processing.
- Children receive their own kit bag with bat, t-shirt, balls and activity book.
- Targeted social media advertisement paid for by Table Tennis England.
- Leaflets and posters to distribute in your local community such as schools.
- Lesson plans.
- Ongoing support from Table Tennis England.
- £20 per participant booked on to support your costs (£30 per participant if running a girls only programme).
- Equipment bag perfect for taster days in schools.
Register your clubs interest here.