Communicating with our members and the wider table tennis family is one of the most important things we do, and I will always be committed to updating via our website, email newsletters and by video across our social media platforms. 

People 

This period has seen significant movement in our senior personnel. As well as my arrival, our Chair Nick Donald, has stepped down. The search for a new Chair should conclude at the end of March and we will update further when a successor has been confirmed. 

Mark Boote, Board Director and Chair of the Finance and Audit Committee has also stood down, and Paul Bishop, a current member of the committee, has been co-opted to the Board until a replacement has been found.  

Emma Sutherland, Head of People, left at the end of January to travel New Zealand and look at her future career direction (she will be supporting us when she returns during the transitional period). Emma’s departure has given us the opportunity to reevaluate the needs of the organisation, which has resulted in a restructure of the Governance and Operations department. 

You can see job descriptions for all of the positions we are currently recruiting here.   

Performance 

I would like to extend my congratulations to the England women’s squad who qualified for the European Championships finals. 

The team had a 100% record at the European Team Qualification Event and will now join our men’s team at the finals in October. 

Congratulations also to Abraham Sellado, who won the Under-15 Boys’ Singles gold at the Europe Youth Series in Croatia. 

We are delighted to welcome back Emma Vickers, who returns this month from maternity leave to resume her key role as Head of Pathway Development. We are further strengthening our performance team with the recruitment of a National Pathway Coach, who will help us in our ambition to develop world-class players at every stage of the pathway. 

Major events 

We have two big events on the immediate horizon – the Mark Bates Ltd Senior National Championships in Nottingham from 21-23 March, followed by the WTT Feeder Manchester from 24-27 April. Tickets are now on sale for both events. 

The Mark Bates Ltd Senior Nationals is our flagship domestic event and I am delighted we were able to designate the Friday as Members’ Day, with the free tickets available to our members seeing a high uptake. We look forward to welcoming you to the event on Friday and across the weekend. We have introduced some additional activities as part of the National’s programme this year with 1-2-1 coaching sessions for adults, group coaching sessions for juniors and a coach’s workshop all taking place in the new ‘Coaching Zone’ (part of the FanZone). Tickets are still available across the weekend and can be purchased here. I look forward to seeing and meeting with as many of our players, coaches, officials, volunteers, sponsors and partners during the weekend.  

The WTT Feeder Manchester builds on the excitement generated by the inaugural event at the National Cycling Centre last year and we are again anticipating large crowds. Events like this are essential for raising the profile of our sport and introducing it to new supporters – and inspiring them to become players. With the WTT Star Contender London later this year and of course the World Team Championships next year, there are certainly plenty of opportunities to see the world’s best players in action on our shores and a massive opportunity for us to raise the profile of our sport and I urge you to support these events by promoting them through your community and getting tickets to attend, which are available here 
 

These events would not be possible without an army of dedicated volunteers, and we are currently recruiting for both the National Championships and, through our event delivery partners MLS, the WTT Feeder Manchester. 

The Cloudathlete Pride of Table Tennis Awards  

Speaking of volunteers, we have recently announced the Area winners of the Pride of Table Tennis Awards and will shortly reveal the shortlisted nominees for 12 national awards. 

We were also proud to announce four sponsors of the awards – Cloudathlete becoming Headline Partner, and Bounce and Tees Sport Award Partners and Great Northern Warehouse an Award Sponsor. We are also delighted that long term Ping partners Cornilleau have recently come on board as an Award Sponsor. 

Volunteers truly are the lifeblood of our sport and the Cloudathlete Pride of Table Tennis Awards enable us to thank and honour them for the boundless enthusiasm and countless hours they give – I extend my gratitude and congratulations to all those who were nominated.  

Great Northern Warehouse is the venue of our Ping Hub Manchester, which aims to build a legacy from the WTT Feeder Manchester, providing a venue to inspire more people, and give them the opportunity, to play table tennis. 

We have recently opened our Ping Hub in Ilford and more venues will follow around the country as we take table tennis to places people are. 

As well as creating new opportunities, we are committed to making the experience of playing our sport better for our members, clubs and leagues. This is highlighted by our work to support the opening of a new club, Maidstone TTC in Kent, and training new umpires, as well as upskilling existing umpires to officiate internationally during the Women’s British Clubs League  

Maidstone TTC marks opening night with star studded exhibition match – Table Tennis England 

Umpires learn from the best at ‘hands-on’ training sessions – Table Tennis England 

GOVERNANCE 

Annual Returns 

Annual returns are for completion between 21 February and 15 March 2025. This information supports the updating of the Electoral Register, which will be valid from 1 April 2025 to 31 March 2026 and will be used for voting rights at the AGM and for the recruitment of Directors through the Elections process.  

If you are part of a Club, League or County, please make sure your membership is current and that all your details are up to date so we can contact you. 

Club Affiliation 

It is essential that clubs have updated their affiliation and that the supporting evidence for Associate and Premier Clubs are uploaded. These clubs must have a nominated Club Welfare Officer with supported Safeguarding Training (accessed free on our website) and a current constitution (template also on our website) which is signed and dated by a member of the committee. 

Regulation and Procedure Changes 

To ensure our ongoing commitment to improving our Governance structure and as part of our Governance reforms we have been working to improve some of our regulations. Head of Governance, Joanna Keay-Blyth, has been leading a Working Group of experienced members which included Mike Bishop (Chair of the Disciplinary Committee), Neil Hurford (Chair of National Council and Articles and Regulations Committee (ARC) member), Estyn Williams (member of the Governance and Risk Advisory Committee, former Chair of the Disciplinary Committee and member of ARC), and our Safeguarding and Disciplinary Manager, Judy Rogers. The work has focused on ensuring clarity of the regulations and that they only contain regulatory matters rather than procedural, which have been pulled into separate supporting documentation. The Code of Conduct has been reviewed as part of the process as well as the Disciplinary and Affiliation Regulations.  

Board Evaluation 

As part of the Code for Sports Governance we are required to undertake an External Board Evaluation every four years and this work has now been completed and findings presented to the Board at its February Board Meeting. The Board support the report and an action plan is already underway as we move through our journey to excellent governance.  

Recruitment of Directors 

As Mark Boote has now stepped down, the opportunity has arisen to replace an Appointed Director with a fifth Director through the Election process, as per the resolution that was passed at the 2024 Annual General Meeting.   

Ritchie Venner’s four-year term also comes to an end on 12 May, and we will be going out to recruit for two Elected Directors. The Nomination Committee is currently assessing the skills required to ensure we have the right skills and diversity to deliver on our Table Tennis United strategy. Roles will be advertised to the membership in March, once the requirements and timetable have been confirmed. 

TT Leagues 

We have continued to develop TT leagues and the improvements are detailed in this article. If you have any ideas you would like to see included in this summer’s development programme, then please email [email protected]  

Safeguarding 

Two safeguarding cases have been concluded in recent weeks. In one case, the member was sentenced to 27 months in prison and has been banned for life. The other went through our Disciplinary Process and the panel chaired by an independent Safeguarding expert found against the member, who was sanctioned to 12 months’ full suspension and thereafter will only be permitted to play in tournaments against people aged over 18, for five years. After the five years the member can re-apply to an Independent Panel. 

Finally, with just eight weeks into my new role, I have been privileged to meet directly with key stakeholders in the game. And I will continue to do this up and down the country. I’ve met with some county associations, local clubs, the VETTS and got to meet some athletes and coaches at the Performance Centre in Sheffield. As we count down towards the World Team Table Tennis Championships 2026, in London, I have also been working closely with the WTT/ITTF and our World Championship boards’.  I joined my first National Council Meeting in February and will continue to join these meetings in the future. I am particularly enjoying engaging and listening to all the different stakeholders across the sport and excited for future opportunities that lie ahead.   

It is clear there are many inter-dependencies in our sport. Working collaboratively and in partnership is key to our success and what Table Tennis United is all about. I look forward to updating you on our progress.  

Best wishes 

Sally Lockyer