Local Brightonian’s are today been celebrating National Table Tennis Day down on Brighton seafront.
As part of National Table Tennis Day sponsors have put up even more tables on Brighton seafront for players to use throughout today.
Brighton, having been selected to host the flagship event will play host to a number of tennis aces showcasing their skills. In attendance will be England’s number one senior woman’s player Kelly Silbey as well as current men’s two-time table tennis world champion Andrew Baggaley.
Nationwide there is expected to be over 200 events with coverage on Sky Sports helping to reach over four million people via social media.
The percentage and proportion of those playing table tennis in Brighton is actually higher than anywhere else in the whole country. Brighton Table Tennis Club consistently hits high participation numbers and was voted Table Tennis Club of the Year back in 2014. The club offers competition training both internationally and domestically and aims to cater for everyone from every walk of life.
Brighton’s table tennis scene is of course not strictly kept to formal clubs. There are hundreds of tables across the city situated in many a park and public spaces. Many of these have been kept in very good condition by local Brightonians with sponsors even trusting bats and balls to be returned to the tables after use. Overall the table tennis tables in public spaces campaign for Brighton and Hove has been a huge success in stimulating participation in the sport.
Brighton Table Tennis Club (BTTC) recently received recognition for its charitable work which has included working with 15 unaccompanied refugee minors from Afghanistan, Eritrea, Iran, Iraq, Kurdistan and Vietnam. One of these minors, Hoang Nguyen is now a qualified coach, with another currently in training for his coaching badges.
In part due to these efforts the club became the first UK sports club to be awarded Club of Sanctuary status.
Tim Holtam, BTTC Director, said: “We are greatly honoured to be the first club to achieve this recognition. We believe sport has a critical role to play in helping these young people to become part of our society.”
This followed the club receiving Table Tennis England’s 2016 Equality Award, for its work with unaccompanied minors, looked after children and people with learning difficulties, in March this year.
Keep up the good work Brighton Table Tennis Club! We hope everyone finds the time today to join in on the celebrations and hope you Brightonians continue playing throughout the year.
Please send us your pictures and posts of you enjoying National Table Tennis Day.
Featured image from here.
