Time was when table tennis was a popular game played in holiday camps, youth clubs and church halls.
We had various Leagues operating in Cumbria.
But how is the game faring now? I thought it was time to catch up with someone who might be able to tell me so I prepared questions for Mike Sunderland who came up with the following with the help of fellow enthusiast Peter Leahy.
Well thanks Mike for taking part so can you start by just telling me a bit about your own table tennis involvement from early introduction to present day involvement?
I started at home, as my parents were both tennis and squash players, so in the school holidays, we moved the dinning table to the hall, placed a row of books to act as the net and spent hours battling it out!
From this background (at 13yrs of age) I joined a youth club and was adopted by the 18yr olds to play in the clubs Table Tennis Team.
The next highlight in my TT a sports career was runner up in the Secondary schools annual Tournament and School Champion at 15 yrs of age.
That was followed by early retirement until I was 56 years old, when I (with other enthusiasts from Kirkby Stephen) launched the Kirkby Stephen Table Tennis Club and started to play League Table Tennis.
Currently I am Secretary of Kirkby Stephen TT Club and a Level2 coach, working in both Kirkby Stephen and Appleby Grammar schools and a number of local junior schools as a TT Coach and introducing the TTKidz TT Programme, launched by Table Tennis England.
Looking at the wider county Mike just how is table tennis doing and has Covid had an impact?
Well I’ve spoken to Peter about the county scene and he believes the pandemic had a number of impacts. All play stopped for an extended period. When it resumed we found that a number of juniors had evening Zoom lessons and could not commit to table tennis, others had drifted away or just got older and were not interested in coming back, and no recruitment of new juniors was possible for 12-18 months.
Have clubs declined in numbers and therefore Leagues disappeared or are there areas where the game is particularly flourishing?
There are currently two active Leagues in Cumbria- Kendal and Barrow. Each has two divisions and both are significantly smaller in player numbers, number of divisions etc than they were 10 years ago.
This is replicated across the county so far as I understand it. Too few juniors, too many players who are aged 40 plus. There is a small club in Carlisle and some pockets of involvement in other areas of the county through some junior activity in a school or two, a number of thriving U3A groups, the odd village hall club or “table available for table tennis”.
Is Cumbria typical of the game nationally or are other areas/counties thriving?
There are thriving clubs across the country. I would say that Natland (albeit small) is one of these but the real test is can we sustain the development by recruiting more people willing to volunteer as coaches, helpers, committee members, tournament organisers etc.
We need to offer junior players a progression pathway from 5-7 year old beginner to teenage elite level player. That requires that our current offering is sustained for many years which has proven to be a very difficult challenge for our sport.
The Bishop Auckland Club is a good example of how quickly things can decline.
I guess the decline in youth clubs and boys clubs has had an effect, because that’s where a lot of youngsters got involved to start with?
Decline in junior participation is due to -lack of junior coaching from local clubs over an extended period, lack of table tennis in schools and an underlying lack in depth of coaching resource.
Cartmel Priory School once had a thriving table tennis club because a couple of teachers were very keen, ditto with Queen Katherine School in Kendal which use to host Junior league matches in the 80’s.
If the teachers involved with table tennis move away the sport dies in the school. The same applies with clubs. If the coach moves on – no coaching happens.
How are clubs across the county trying to attract new players into the game?
Barrow runs a Junior League and Kendal has recently started a junior league now with 2 divisions
Barrow and Kendal offer junior coaching which is key to junior participation.
Does the county have a coaching system in place for the younger players who are already involved?
We are now making good progress with juniors but we are rebuilding from a very low base. There are three juniors from Barrow League and two from Kendal League who have won their respective age groups in the England Schools Table Tennis County competition for Cumbria who will be attending the National schools competition in April.
Is there a County team as such, involved in inter-county games and have we ever produced top class players in the county?
Cumbria had a county TT association until the mid 80’s apparently. It folded due to lack of volunteers to run it, geographic spread of the county and lack of people involved in the game in large parts of the county.
However we have a Cumbrian player, from Tebay, developed from Kirkby Stephen TT Club, who represented England ASPIRE junior squad last year and won a singles and a doubles silver medal against Scotland, Ireland and Wales and won the Junior.
In addition last month with a team from Ormesby, in the north east (Jake Haygarth) won the Junior British League, Premier Division Championship.
We rarely seem to see table tennis on tv. Do you think more exposure in this area of the media would help attract more players?
The National Governing Body – Table Tennis England – have used their game in the last five years and we do feature on the professional and international TT circuits, with some outstanding players, entering World Championships and the Olympics.
However, we feature 12th in the top 40 countries competing in Table Tennis, which is impressive, when you consider countries like China, Japan and S Korea have TT as their national sport.
If a generous benefactor left Cumbria Table Tennis a shed load of money how do you think it should be spent?
Money is not an issue, as local venues are affordable £3 seniors and £2 or free for juniors, is an example of club night fees or £10 for a junior day of coaching in the morning and a fun but competitive tournament in the afternoon.
There are not enough coaches, prepared to invest time into developing groups of players or individuals. Many Cumbria clubs do not have a junior section or any volunteer coaches, which is the secret to success.
So, if a large quantity of money was introduced to Cumbria Table Tennis, we should invest in some professional coaches, paying them to support the existing clubs and starting up programmes like TT Kidz, aimed at 7-11 Yr olds, in schools or clubs. Setting up opportunities throughout the County. To my knowledge Cumbria does not have a single professional TT Coach.
Or pay the schools – junior and senior – to add the inclusive sport of Table Tennis to their curriculum, to provide opportunities for students to explore the game of TT and not just stick to the big FIVE – football, rugby, cricket, hockey and netball.
