Today is World Table Tennis Day (WTTD) – celebrating the theme of Diversity and Inclusion to underscore the sport’s unifying power, where individuals from all backgrounds, cultures and abilities come together to share their passion.
Table Tennis England is committed to equality and diversity and our projects and programmes aim to remove the barriers that exist and prevent people accessing table tennis. Click here to read more about this.
Through the Table Tennis United strategy, we are working to make table tennis a thriving community and a sport for everyone, with no barriers to taking part.
We are working in partnership from local to national levels to increase participation. Our aim is to provide a seamless and integrated structure from the playground to the podium, enabling a lifelong involvement in table tennis while also providing a progressive pathway for talented and committed players to become world class.
Our public tables provide access to countless thousands of people who just want to enjoy a game, while we support the club and league structure, and a competition landscape, for all those who want to engage in competitive play.
What is World Table Tennis Day?
WTTD celebrates the joy of playing table tennis for fun, bringing people together, focusing less on competition and more on participation and enjoyment.
World Table Tennis Day has been celebrated annually in April since 2015 and is on April 23 as it is the birthday of Ivor Montagu, organiser of the first World Table Tennis Championships in 1926 and the founder and first president of the ITTF, as well as the first Chairman of the English Table Tennis Association.
New session for players with long-term health conditions launched on World Table Tennis Day
People in Milton Keynes with long-term health conditions are being invited to join a brand new table tennis class which is all about giving it a go, in an inclusive and supportive environment.
Launching on World Table Tennis Day today, the daytime session is organised by Future Wolverton, working in conjunction with Wolverton and Greenleys Table Tennis Hub, run by Stephen Baggaley, and is located at Greenleys Community Centre.
Marie Osborne from Future Wolverton said: “Our brand new table tennis session – called Rallying Together – is open to anyone whose physical activity might be limited by a long-term health condition, including people who have dementia and Parkinson’s. There is no pressure to play for the whole 90 mins – it’s all about giving it a go, and having tea and cake afterwards!”
Stephen Baggaley, professional coach and brother of Commonwealth Games double gold medallist, Andrew Baggaley, said: “The theme of this year’s World Table Tennis Day is diversity and inclusion, and our new daytime class recognises that everyone – no matter what their ability, age or disability, can find joy playing table tennis. We want people to get moving at their own pace, and to connect with others for support.”
The sessions will be every Tuesday from 11am to 12.30pm, continuing well into June, at a cost of £6 per person. Click here to book, or just turn up at Greenleys Community Centre.
Celebrating diversity on World Table Tennis Day! Table Tennis England.
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