As the new season gets into full swing, more women and girls are being offered more and better competitive experiences in table tennis.

A lot of work has been done towards Table Tennis England’s strategic target to get more female players into the sport, whether through playing recreationally, competing, coaching, volunteering or officiating.

We are working to remove barriers to participation and ensure females feel welcomed, valued and visible and to keep them involved by providing more inclusive and positive opportunities.

The statistics and the lived experience of players confirm that things are moving in the right direction.

Female membership has risen from 1,609 in 2020 to 6,649 at the end of last season – a staggering increase of 313%.

Women and girls now make up 18.8% of Table Tennis England’s membership, a figure which has been on a steady upward trend from 9.5% just four years ago.

Among under-11s, that figure is 20.8% – 294 out of 1,414 members in that age bracket are girls.

Positive initiatives in the competitions landscape are among the drivers behind those trends and our membership data also shows:

• The number of women and girls competing in national competitions such as British Clubs Leagues has increased by 146% over the same period
• 92% of female Compete Plus members are staying in the sport year-on-year

More competitions are women and girls-only or include categories for women and girls, rather than mixed fields – something which has made a big difference.

“I love that there are more competitions,” said 23-year-old Patricia Ianau, who recently returned to the sport after a break of around three years. “It creates a bit more of a supportive space and all the girls are supportive of each other.

“Having female-only competitions will encourage more girls to participate, even if they wouldn’t play in a mixed tournament. That’s not to say the mixed community isn’t great, but they might feel more included and supported if they are more shy around the mixed events. It’s definitely a positive.”

Patricia also believes the female categories at national events such as the upcoming four stars in Liverpool and Sussex is also a big plus.

“It’s nice to see there’s competitions like four-stars every month because when I was playing before there were Junior tournaments every weekend but you didn’t see many Senior ones.

“I’d love to see more girls and more women playing in them because from a player standpoint there’s 4 or 5 groups max, but the men have more like 20.

“It’s going in the right direction, especially the four stars to have more Seniors playing and for the younger girls to see that there’s more to play after finishing Juniors and that they might not take a pro athlete road but they can still compete and have the experience of playing matches and having a good weekend of table tennis.”

Holly Holder, who has been playing since the age of 11 and is now 27, competes at 2* and 4* events, as well as in Senior British Clubs League and Women’s British Clubs League for Worthing.

She said: “In terms of women’s competitions, I’m a big fan. I like playing against men and it’s good to play in mixed tournaments, but I think having that concentration of top women together at a competition is an incentive to play.

“And at the lower end, there are young girls who are a bit nervous about starting out and it’s a more welcoming environment for them.

“I’ve never had any negative experiences, but definitely when I was growing up it was normal to be the only girl at most clubs.

“I’d say to girls to give it a go and try not to be intimidated if there aren’t many girls around because if you play for a little while, you’ll find other girls and make friends with them – so just keep going.”

Zoe Podmore, 43, plays in the WBCL for TT Shop Liverpool alongside Sarah Short, Clare Peers and Gemma Grant. She returned to the sport a few years ago after a break of 20 years or so.

“I absolutely love WBCL,” she said. “We’re a bit of a yo-yo team, we’ve just been demoted back to Division 1. The year before, we won the league and went up to the Premier – we’ve done that twice now.

“We have an excellent team. Sarah and Clare were on the scene when I was a Cadet and Junior and it’s nice to form those friendships back.

“It would say table tennis over the years teaches you resilience and discipline, and you form friendships that will last – it’s a very welcoming community. It’s not all about playing, it’s about that connection.”

The Girls’ Cadet BCL, having been run as a pilot competition in 2025/26, is now permanently embedded in the calendar for 2026/27. The number of venues as increased from four to five for this season, providing more opportunities for young players at the start of their competitive journeys.

Sophie Storey, formerly Competition & Events Support Officer at Table Tennis England, was a leading figure in the creation of the Girls’ Cadet BCL.

She said: “I did some research into the mixed-gender Cadet & Junior BCL and it showed that there were a lot more active memberships than there were girls actually playing in the competition.

“I also spoke to a lot of people who agreed that playing in a girls-only environment was much more preferable and that we should offer that opportunity, especially at beginner level.

“At older age groups, you have National Series and National Championships which have girls-only categories. But for girls to get to that level, they have to be a beginner first. So it was a process of creating a stepping stone in that pathway.

“The majority of the girls who played in Girls’ Cadet BCL had no ranking before they started and a lot took out Compete membership to play in the competition – they’d had Club Play membership before.

“It did what it intended to do, which was to get girls playing in a competitive environment.”

Membership – your route to competitions

Access to competition is a benefit of Compete or Compete Plus membership of Table Tennis England.

Compete is the ideal membership for local league players, including access to local leagues, personal accident insurance, rankings and ratings and 1* competitions.

Compete Plus membership opens up access to all national competitions, including Senior British Clubs Leagues and 2-4* events – and you also get international public liability insurance.

To find out about Compete and Compete Plus memberships, click here.

To find a competition to enter, click here.