It’s been a busy and exciting month for the Coach Development team, including a new member joining the team, traveling the country, learning and connecting with coaches and players across the country and every continent on the planet!
Aad Kwakkelstein joins the team
Table Tennis England wishes you a warm welcome Aad Kwakkelstein to the Coach Development team! Aad joins the team with a wealth of experience – coming from both the Netherlands and now based in Ipswich where he coaches at Britannia TTC.
Aad took off at his post and headed straight to Romania, together with Under-13 Boys number one Dimitar Dimitrov, for an international training camp. He then joined the rest of the team in Sheffield for the World Hopes Camp, where he observed some of the brightest young talents in action and learned from some of the leading coaches from around the world.
World Hope Week
After the camp in Sheffield the team stayed to… World Hope Competition, which was won by Japanese and Ugandan young players. This was a great opportunity to see future stars and think about international coaching methods. Visit the Table Tennis England YouTube channel to watch several special Inside Camp episodes from World Hopes Week and Challenge.
ITTF Coaching Conference & WTT Star Contender
The team then headed to London for the WTT Star Contender and ITTF Coach Conference at the Bobby Moore Centre, with the fantastic Michael Maze as guest speaker. The Danish legend delivered an insightful conference based on coaching tips and focused on creativity and inspiration – Full article here.
There was even time to visit the Copper Box Arena to watch some of the best players in the world train and compete up close in the WTT Star Contender – a brilliant learning experience seeing the best players in the training hall, following their preparation and watching the competition. You can step behind the scenes and see how the world’s best use their time wisely to improve their trading as they compete here – WTT Star Contender in camp.
Club visits
Both Steve and Aad, Table Tennis England’s coach developers, plan to visit clubs across the country as Coach Development is at the heart of the growth of our sport. Supporting coaches means better experiences for players and stronger clubs for the future. Aad’s club, Britannia TTC in Ipswich, was the first club to be visited in October. It was then on to Cramlington TTC in Northumberland, another club doing a brilliant job developing and supporting players in the region. The full news article about club attendance can be found here.
CPD Multi-ball workshop success
To end the month the team launched the first of the new CPD Multi-ball workshops. The series involves visiting a number of clubs across the country to help aspiring coaches improve their skills, with the initial focus being on multiple ball delivery. The first CPD session took place in Hummersknott, Darlington, and was a great success, with coaches gaining practical experience and exchanging ideas on how to make multi-ball a more effective and engaging coaching tool. Thank you to everyone who attended, it was great to see so much enthusiasm for the continued development of coaches!
Looking ahead:
The team is ready and excited to deliver more CPD sessions for coaches to participate in and develop their skills. Go to upcoming courses to find out how you can get involved now. The CPD Workshops will be combined with a number of further planned club visits – seeing coaches in their own environment and working with clubs and coaches to develop can only have a positive effect on the players and future coaches who come through their systems. Stay tuned for updates and join us as we continue to grow and support our amazing coaching community.
#Coach #Development #Update #October #Table #Tennis #England