Brighton Table Tennis Club are joining forces with a local college to deliver a programme offering table tennis coaching alongside academic courses.

The partnership with BACA (Brighton Aldridge Community Academy) launches in September and will allow students to choose from a wide range of A-Levels, BTEC and ESOL programs, and then spend the afternoons training and coaching.

Students will have access to top-class table tennis coaching at BACA and also at BTTC’s home venue in Kemptown. All students on the programme will get their Table Tennis England Level 1 coaching qualification and have opportunities to gain experience of then assisting with sessions in primary schools, with adults with learning disabilities, in care homes and other diverse locations.

For players who are keen to train and compete at higher levels, BTTC will tailor a bespoke training programme that will include access to practise with its British League teams.

* Brighton Table Tennis Club (BTTC) was founded in 2007 with two worn-out tables in the Brighton Youth Centre and the strong belief that table tennis can be used as a powerful tool in engaging people of all ages and transforming lives. Today the club has its own centre with 10 tables in Kemptown and runs 100 tables across the city in parks, squares, schools, sheltered housing schemes, a centre for homeless people, sports centres and a psychiatric hospital. It works in two prisons outside the city.

BTTC is also a centre of sporting excellence. It has three teams in the Senior British League, twelve teams in the Brighton League and many Junior teams playing in various competitions.