From Britannia Table Tennis Club junior to a degree in sport coaching and becoming an inspiring female coach at the very club she began playing the sport – this is the journey of Lucy Curtis.

Lucy has been part of Britannia Table Tennis Club for more than a decade, joining as a shy ten-year-old and growing into a confident, thoughtful coach. A young female coach working in a club environment, she brings a blend of academic knowledge, multi-sport experience and a warm, athlete-centred coaching style that has made a lasting impact on her young players.

She began playing at primary school and joined Britannia around age ten. Lucy progressed through the Saturday morning sessions coached by the late George Earle to the more advanced sessions with Mark Dare and Aad Kwakkelstein. She recalls that the club environment has remained welcoming and consistent over the years, giving her a strong sense of belonging.

The past season was her first as a lead coach at Britannia TTC. She led and coached an integrated mixed group, usually with around 8–10 boys and several girls within the same session. Supported by Wayne Shaw, Lucy quickly discovered she could design far more sessions than she expected. She admitted she once panicked at university when asked to create multiple session plans, but at Britannia, she surprised herself by delivering a full year of varied, engaging coaching sessions.

Lucy described her coaching style as athlete-centred, collaborative, and built on strong rapport. In coaching terms, she is drawn to guided discovery: the sweet spot between autocratic and democratic coaching, where the coach sets the direction and structure but gives players room to explore, problem solve, and understand why they are doing something. She values two way communication, uses questions to develop players’ thinking, and adapts sessions based on what players need in the moment. Flexibility and adaptability, she says are essential,

“Sometimes you plan something and it doesn’t go according to plan… it’s okay to deviate.”

Lucy’s approach was also shaped by her experience coaching very young girls in football where she learned how important it is to make sessions playful, active and easy to enjoy. Rather than relying on long explanations, she found that young players respond best when they are moving, laughing and learning almost without realising it.

She carried that into table tennis through warmups, movement games and ideas like ‘Lucy’s Circuits’, using fun as a route into confidence, coordination and good habits. It also reinforced her belief that children benefit from experiencing different sports when they are young – the fundamentals of movement can all underpin later development in table tennis.

Lucy went on to share that she feels fortunate to have been involved with Britannia, where she felt supported by coaches she had known for years and did not experience major barriers within table tennis, though recognises that many women do.

She emphasised the importance of girls having other girls around them in mixed sessions. As a junior, she relied on her peers for confidence and knows how much it helps when girls can see they are not the only ones involved. Lucy hopes her presence as a female coach can give the girls a relatable role model within the wider community –

“I hope they remember my sessions as fun… and me being a bit bubbly and wacky.”

My advice to any young girls would be to “Go for it… you just have to try it.”

Lucy holds a BSc in Sport Science, Coaching and Physical Education from Loughborough University. Her degree broadened her understanding of coaching beyond technique, helping her appreciate holistic development, questioning skills, behaviour and reflective practice. It also gave her the language for approaches such as guided discovery, where learning comes through carefully framed challenges rather than simply being told what to do. She noted that university helped her see coaching as more than teaching strokes and more about developing people.

Lucy says this season was one of the most pivotal moments in her life. Coaching at Britannia helped her grow not only as a coach but as a person. She learned to be adaptable, to trust her instincts, and to value feedback. She also discovered how much joy she gets from making players smile, whilst developing their table tennis skills.

Lucy’s story is a powerful example of how a young player can grow into a confident, capable coach through supportive environments, strong role models, and a willingness to learn. Her blend of academic insight, multi-sport experience, and athlete centred coaching has enriched Britannia’s programme and inspired the next generation of girls.

Take your coaching to the next level with membership

With a range of benefits to help coaches in their journey and to help them learn and develop, the brand-new coaching membership is now available. With two tiers on offer to coaches in different settings to achieve their ambitions, membership gives coaches more support to impact their players.

Existing licence-holders can upgrade their coach licence to either of the Coach or Coach Plus options, find out more information on Coach Membership here.