A total party of thirty talented Junior table tennis players and coaches are in Jersey from the English Table Tennis Association’s North West and Yorkshire divisions. Brian Kean the North West Coaching Co-ordinater is assisted by top ETTA coaches including Katy Parker, Sally Shutt, Chris Parker and the JTTA Development Officer and Head Jersey Coach Craig Gascoyne. The trip is for a full 4 day training camp with the JTTA’s Appleby Academy players.
“This is the biggest party we have welcomed for many years and perhaps the largest junior one”, said JTTA President Chris Band. “It gives all the youngsters the opportunity for concentrated training and to hone their techniques against other players who they would otherwise not normally encounter. The standard of the coaching is top notch and the youngsters are thorughly enjoying themselves and improving as a result.”
Brian Kean from the ETTA said,”The thing that particularly impressed us about Jersey’s Appleby Academy players was their work ethic when training and playing. We have seen this every time that the Jersey junior players have come to compete in tournaments on the mainland. As a result we were very keen to have a training camp in Jersey so as let our own juniors see this first hand and to train with their Island counterparts. The Geoff Reed Centre is a fantastic purpose built facility and we do not have anything similar in our regions so to be able to train here is simply fantastic.”