Table Tennis England is relaunching its individual membership categories for the 2020/21 season to help create a better and more relevant journey for everyone within the sport.
Over one million people play our sport in England every year, but only a small minority are members of Table Tennis England.
We recognised that our current offering wasn’t suitable for attracting those outside of leagues or the national competition landscape, and so set about creating a new structure to ensure more people become part of the Table Tennis England family, within categories which are more relevant to them.
The main changes are:
- Re-branding the current Player Member and Player Licence – these will now be known as ‘Compete’ and ‘Compete Plus’.
- Removing the Associate category and creating a ‘Supporter’ category, which is aimed at those who don’t play but still want to be part of Table Tennis England.
- The introduction of a ‘Club Play’ category, which will ensure those who are playing in a club setting or regularly elsewhere can purchase a membership that will help them develop as a player and get access to insurance to ensure they’re properly protected. It will not cover playing in leagues or national competitions.
- Introduction of a ‘Just Play’ category in 2021, which will aim to attract more casual players into the Table Tennis England family and allow us to improve their experience of the sport and move them along the membership pathway.
As well as individual categories, we are also introducing memberships for schools and workplaces, to help ensure they get more out of the sport.
I’m a Player Member / hold a Player Licence – what does this mean for me?
The main change for you is the name:
- If you’re a Player Member, you will purchase a Compete membership for the 2020/21 season
- If you hold a Player Licence, you will purchase a Compete Plus membership for the 2020/21 season
However, we also want to ensure that members get more value for their memberships, and so we will be introducing and trialling a number of extra benefits for you this season, including:
- Free access to the Mark Bates Ltd Premier Club – giving you access to exciting offers and giveaways from Mark Bates Ltd and other brands you love.
- A monthly members’ competition – following the popularity of our ‘win a Team England Butterfly bundle’, we’re introducing a monthly members-only competition. Among the prizes up for grabs are: the new 2020/21 Team England shirt (yet to be released!), a coaching session with a Team England coach, signed Team England kit, a Butterfly kit bundle, a Tees Sport voucher and a visit from a Team England star for your club.
- Introduction of the Table Tennis Technician – we’ll be taking your questions on all things table tennis and asking our expert panel to answer them.
- Worldwide insurance cover whether you’re playing competitively or socially*
- More content tailored to you, including tips and training advice to help you improve your game
*Worldwide coverage is for Compete Plus purchasers only. Compete members will remain covered in the UK.
I’m an Associate – what does this mean for me?
If you’re an Associate member and are a volunteer or fan, you can move to our Supporter category, which will be free of charge. It will mean you will still be part of the Table Tennis England family and benefit from priority access & discounts to tickets for major national and international events hosted by Table Tennis England and first-to-know news updates that matter to you.
This category will no longer come with any insurance cover for volunteers. However, rest assured, if you volunteer for Table Tennis England or one of our affiliated clubs or leagues, you’ll be covered by the insurance cover we provide. There is no need for you to have your own public liability insurance.
If you are a player and currently have an Associate membership, you will likely need our Club Play membership. This is designed for those who play outside of national competitions and leagues. This category will enable those who play in a club setting or regularly elsewhere can purchase a membership that will help them develop as a player and ensure they’re properly protected when playing with public liability insurance. It also comes with access to member-only competitions and content. This category is not suitable for those playing in local leagues or national competitions.