PING PONG WORKSHOPS FOR LOCAL YOUTH
Table tennis legend Desmond Douglas MBE, former English Olympian who won three table tennis gold medals in the 1989 Commonwealth Games will appear at a table tennis extravaganza at Bounce TTC.
He’ll appear with young protégé Tin-Tin Ho, aged 15, on Sunday October 20th from 12.00 noon until 3.00pm.
As well as table tennis surgeries the children and youngsters will be treated to free coaching sessions by Roots of Sports Partner John Kessie, an English Table Tennis Association (ETTA) Level 2 and UKCC 2 (UK Coaching Certificate) coach, and Sanket Shah also an ETTA level 3 and UKCC 2 qualified coach.
John Kessie is one of the few coaches in the UK who learnt coaching techniques from the Chinese. He has pioneered table tennis development in the local community and is now applying his skills for Roots of Sport TT.
He said: “Desmond Douglas is my hero! No one has done what he did in the game in the last four decades including winning the English Championship for nine consecutive years! Telling people about his story is important and so is the sport’s heritage and history.”
The Bounce event is the fifth in a series of sport showcases staged during this year by the Roots of Sport Partnership Project, funded by Heritage Lottery and managed by the Institute of Black Culture, Media and Sport.
Founder Claudine Boothe said: “We are delighted to have Desmond Douglas with us. He will demonstrate his legendary skills and a video of his winning performances will also be shown. There will also be an exhibition of some of his trophies along with memorabilia from Bounce’s impressive cabinet and from Gerald Gurney, Britain’s foremost TT memorabilia collector.”
Bounce was launched late in 2012 as Europe’s first Social Ping Pong Club, taking inspiration from the explosion of stylish table tennis social venues in the United States and the huge resurgence of interest in the game within the UK.
It’s important to book a place so to do so visit www.rootsofsport.org.uk
Original source: Roots of Sport (October 2, 2013)