It has been a busy and exciting month for the Coach Development team, including a new member joining the team, travel around the country, learning and connecting with coaches and players across the country and every continent on the planet!

Aad Kwakkelstein joins the team

Table Tennis England are thrilled to welcome Aad Kwakkelstein to the Coach Development team! Aad joins the team with a wealth of experience – from both the Netherlands and now being based in Ipswich, coaching at Britannia TTC.

Aad hit the ground running within his post, heading straight out to Romania accompanying Under-13 Boys number one, Dimitar Dimitrov, for an international training camp. He then joined the rest of the team in Sheffield for the World Hopes Camp, observing some of the brightest young talents in action and learning from some of the leading coaches from around the world.

World Hopes Week

Following the Sheffield camp, the team stayed on to observe the World Hopes Competition, which was won by Japanese and Ugandan young players. This was a great chance to see future stars and reflect on international coaching methods. Head to the Table Tennis England YouTube channel to see several special Inside Camp episodes from within the World Hopes Week and Challenge.

ITTF Coaching Conference & WTT Star Contender

The team then headed to London for the WTT Star Contender and ITTF Coach Conference at the Bobby Moore Centre, featuring the fantastic Michael Maze as a guest speaker. The Danish legend gave an insightful packed conference that was based around coaching tips and focused on creativity and inspiration – Full article here.

There was even time to squeeze in a visit to the Copper Box Arena to watch some of the world’s best players train and compete up close in the WTT Star Contender — a brilliant learning experience, to watch the best players in the training hall, tracking their preparation, as well as watching the competition. You can take a step behind the scenes and watch how the best in the world use their time wisely to improve their trade whilst in competition here – WTT Star Contender Inside Camp.

Club Visits

Both Table Tennis England Coach Developers Steve and Aad plan to visit clubs around the country as Coach Development is at the heart of growing our sport — supporting coaches means better experiences for players and stronger clubs for the future. Aad’s club, Britannia TTC in Ipswich, was the first club to be visited in October. Then it was on to Cramlington TTC in Northumberland, another club doing brilliant work developing and supporting players in the region. Find the full club visit news article here.

CPD Multi-ball Workshop Success

To round off the month, the team launched the first of the new CPD Multi-ball workshops. The series includes visiting a number of clubs across the country to help aspiring coaches improve their skills, with the first focus being based around multi-ball delivery. The first CPD session took place at Hummersknott, Darlington, and was a great success, with coaches gaining hands-on experience and sharing ideas on how to make multi-ball a more effective and engaging coaching tool. A huge thank you and well done to all who attended, it was great to see such enthusiasm for ongoing coach development!

Looking Ahead:

The team are ready and excited to deliver more CPD sessions for coaches to take part in and develop their skills. Head to upcoming courses to find out how you can get involved now. The CPD Workshops are combined with several more scheduled club visits – seeing coaches in their own environments and working with clubs and coaches to develop can only have a positive effect for the players and future coaches coming through their systems. Keep an eye out for updates and join us as we continue to grow and support our amazing coaching community.