TT Kidz will once again be coming to clubs up and down the country providing hundreds of children a great first experience in table tennis. The initiative is proving successful at growing girls’ participation in the game. Whilst only 12% of Table Tennis England members are female, TT Kidz bookings tend to be 30-35% girls with plans to grow this further through the roll out of TT Kidz Girls only sessions following successful pilots at Stratford upon Avon TTC and Ormesby Table Tennis Club.
To date close to 400 girls have taken part in TT Kidz and the feedback has been positive with 89% girls surveyed highly likely to recommend TT Kidz to their friends. In addition to this 94% of girls have indicated that they have become or would like to become a member of a club following the eight weeks.
Great sessions. The team who ran the programme were excellent. My child felt at ease from day. Now she plays well and is inspired to carry on playing. Big Thanks to the organisers.
TT Kidz parent
My heartfelt thanks to the entire TTKIDZ family for making my daughter love table tennis.
TT Kidz parent
Out of the eight girls who took part in the girls only programme at Stratford upon Avon, seven have continued playing with the club now having a regular girls’ only session led by Debs Barrow.
National Participation Manager, Jenny Leach comments “TT Kidz is clearly a fun, engaging and inspiring experience of the game for young girls and will continue to play an important role in our gender parity goal. We’re really excited to be working with clubs to deliver girls only programmes and are on hand to support clubs if they wish to explore this.“
More information on our Gender Parity Goal.
Table Tennis England are committed to supporting clubs to deliver girls only programmes with incentives for doing so. Following the February phase, Table Tennis England met with women who have been involved with TT Kidz to discuss how the programme can be best delivered for girls. Clubs will be supported with training to ensure their sessions deliver a fun, engaging and inspiring first experience for girls coming into the game.
Want to develop a girls only programme at your club?
It’s not too late to sign up for the TT Kidz phase in October. In addition to the support to deliver a TT Kidz girls only programme, our Level the Table Grant Scheme is available to support clubs to continue the sessions running which is an important consideration when thinking about your project.
For more information and a discussion on how we can support you to develop a TT Kidz girls only project please contact Chris Turner.
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