Case study – Bhavin the coach of London table tennis academy
Bhavin is a professional coach for table tennis in London academy he organises different tournaments and coaches on a regular basis since 2010. Since then he has taught many children in the school and has improved some kids to a very good standard which some of the children have won various tournaments. He runs sessions in different academies but mostly in London academy the sessions are Thursday and Friday, which are free to come. They start at 330 and finish at 5, which he would teach the kids and set up mini games to play between the players, he would also coach and give tips to the children. Also there is a level system in which players get graded by how good they are so for example a player that is very good at playing will be level 5 which is the top level. Also bhavin has become a coach by the greenhouse charity, which is a charity that helps professional coaches.
Voluntary Sector
Table tennis in the voluntary sector is good as there are a number of opportunities that volunteers are holding for beginners, also many coaches and assistant coaches work at the clubs on a voluntary basis (22). On the other hand people are becoming assistant coaches and giving time for free in private clubs .in Barnet there is a club where you can just turn up and play and will be coached by table tennis players for no fee (9). This is good for people that want to have laugh and want to enjoy the game. It is also good to get free coaching as it will improve your game. (10) (See the case study below)
Case Study – London table tennis academy
A fellow student called Kayode; volunteered in London academy to help out in the table tennis academy sessions. Furthermore he worked hard to get these sessions going and made a lot of students come to play and enjoy table tennis. On Thursday he would go after school to go to a session to provide tips and taking out the tables and bringing the equipment out. The sessions would take place at 330 and finish at 5 or sometimes 430 depending on many people come to play. Sometimes sessions are on Saturday which sometimes he would go to he gained a lot of experience by doing this as he learnt a lot of things such as communication skills, more over he also set up internal table tennis competitions which would take place in London academy sports hall and he would award the winners with a medal. Kayode has learnt and gained a lot of experience from coaching and helping out the kids, as he volunteered to do it.
Coaching
It is not specific to table tennis as you have to have experience to coach other people (11). But you can pay to attend a coaching course which will give you the right to coach other people maybe kids in schools (12). Successful learners will be qualified to plan and deliver basic table tennis coaching activities, normally under the direct supervision of a more qualified coach. The course consists of two days, separated by a period of 4 to 6 weeks for home study and coaching practice. The coaching award is run by etta the NGB; I also did my UKCC level 1 qualification in November, they also offer higher coaching awards, they do from age 15 upwards. (28)
Officiating
The ETTA Young Officials Award has been produced in partnership with the Youth Sport Trust and is supported by United Utilities and V. Its main aim is to encourage more young people into umpiring and officiating in Table Tennis (13). (14). the ETTA officiating courses take place every month. (29)
National Governing Bodies (NGB) and Funding
The English Table Tennis Association is the NGB for table tennis. They provide coaching courses and officiating courses for people that want to do one of these (15). Also it provides tickets to actually buy to watch professional games at different arenas. The national lottery funding helps the NGB for funding (15). The ETTA subdivides into regions. The North West region is responsible for Barnet.
Gender (female)
Female table tennis continues to grow these days. However my research found that only a few schools in Barnet have a female table tennis team. There are only a few of female teams that are in Barnet (17). This lack of provision means that they are not getting the same opportunities as males. I think this disappointing as it’s not equal and makes females feel less valued and appreciated than males. (30)
Disabled
Disability Table Tennis opportunities have increased over the years. There are disabled table tennis players that play in Barnet. I think there should be more opportunities for the unable as there isn’t much without looking for it. Instead of providing for those less able there’s too much provision for those who are bale (18). Paralympics table tennis was a success but they need more provision in order to improve their Disability Table Tennis.
Evaluation
Table tennis is a good sport that is played a lot in many schools that it is easy to play and easy to gain access to play. For those who take table tennis serious and are wanted to compete there are opportunities to progress; this is targeted at males and females but I don’t think the females get enough opportunities as the males do. Furthermore the provision for the disabled has fewer opportunities to take part. So in conclusion Etta should provide funding for those who are unable so that there are more opportunities for them and also layout more opportunities for those who are male.
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Appendix
Schools in Barnet offer children to play table tennis in their PE lessons or in their lunchtimes. Some schools offer after school clubs which would start at 330 and sometimes finish at 430 or 5. This is a good opportunity to those who would like to play table and improve their game.
There are after schools clubs in Barnet that offer children table tennis such as Barnet table tennis centre. In the holidays they offer a wide range of lessons to children. They could offer long training which you would have to stay over at the camp and play over 2-3 days.
Schools in Barnet such as Hendon School offer tournaments internally for any student in any year. There are different prizes on offer to those who win as it will inspire them to carry on improving to maybe compete in the professional game one day.
There is a Barnet district which is endorsed by the NGB Etta they offer different divisions which are based on their talent and how good they are. Top players will be in division one and not so good players will be in the lower division which they can move up over the year as they get better.
There is a club in Hendon which you can rent out to play in the leisure centre provides 5-7 table tennis tables which you can invite anyone to play.
Coaching sessions at Barnet table tennis centre start at 5.30 and finish at 9.30 they are only on weekends sometimes there’s coaching on the weekend but you might have to pay more to go and get coaching from the table tennis coaches.
Frien Barnet table tennis leisure lets you rent out their tables for a fee. For an hour it will be about £12 this is because they will let you hire table tennis bats as well as the tables.
There are some social/youth clubs which offer 1-2 table tennis tables to play on for fun. A lot of kids will go to these youth clubs as they would probably go to play games. This is a good opportunity for those who want to play the game.
In Barnet burnt oak leisure centre sometimes lets you turn up and allows you to play table tennis for free and sometimes there is free coaching given to kids if there is a large number of them at Sundays 10am they will allow you for a an hour free then after that you will have to pay
If coaching is free that is a good opportunity for kids who can’t afford to pay for coaching this will also make them want to play more often.
Coaching is tough to provide if you haven’t got the experience as you won’t know every aspect of the game the top coaches have around 15-20 year experience in the game.
You can pay to get a coaching award which will allow you to go to different schools and teach the kids. The NGB offer a coaching award which first you will have to train and then take a test if your good enough to coach they will give you a certificate which can go on your cv and then apply to coach in schools.
The four hour course covers: An introduction to basic umpiring skills. how to organise and deliver a wide variety of competition formats, which can be used in schools and clubs such as; Butterfly Skills Circuit, top table, ladder and group/knockout competitions.
The officiating is good as you can go to schools to referee internal competitions or you can apply to Etta and maybe referee top professional games if you’re a good ref
The NGB of table tennis Etta get funded by national lottery the last funding was £250.000 for all the tables’ equipment.
Outside tournaments have a no of opportunities to enter different tournaments for different age groups.
This is a layout of tournaments
Totteridge Academy vs. St Michael
St James vs. London academy (blue)
East Barnet vs. Finchley high
East barnet (green) vs. Hendon School
They will rank each player and give them a level in order to put them in certain divisions.
Barnet do not have much opportunities for females as there aren’t a lot of teams
Disabled people have no opportunities for table tennis as I have researched.
Barnet champs are run by a professional coach who takes place in London academy most schools from Barnet came and battled it out for the Barnet champ.
Barnet provides coaching and different facilities for table tennis such as burnt oak leisure centre.
The private sector provides clubs + coaches which people pay to use.
The voluntary sector provides coaches who offer their services free of charge.
The public sector provides facilities + equipment for people to use.
The private sector provides public opportunities for example in a private leisure centre they will have a table tennis table outside for public use.
Volunteers assist coaching in private clubs and the facilities that are used are public.
Bhavin professional coach runs London table tennis academy which is a private club in barnet.
St james run coaching on Sundays to kids for free and sometimes they pay for a professional coach, they also provide equipment for those wanting to learn the game.
In addition to assessing your written course and home study work, a practical assessment is included in the second day of the course. This involves delivering a 15 minute coaching session to a group of up to 4 players, at Level 1 the coaching group will be made up of your peers on the course.
- as part of the award those that record 12 hours of voluntary work within a club, receive an ETTA Young Officials polo shirt and other resources they can use to help organise and run table tennis competitions in a school or club. There are also opportunities for candidates to be invited to major events such as the UK School Games, to assist with officiating and volunteer roles
Less opportunities for females because less female tournaments.
References