Jessica MacAskill, Course Conductor

Self-funded by Table Tennis New Zealand, the focus was to improve the skills of local coaches in order to assist their local associations.

Overall eleven students attended and although the course was held in the Auckland region, in addition to the local area, participants travelled from five regional associations located in the north island; Wellington, Bay of Plenty, Waikato, and North Shore.

An enthusiastic group of players (Photo: John Tuki)

The base level of technical skills and knowledge of the participants was reasonably high given most participants having represented New Zealand or India internationally; this was evident with the 100 per cent practical assessment pass rate. Nonetheless, many of the coaches were grateful for the increased knowledge and skills this course gave them.

A most memorable aspect for many coaches was having the opportunity to interact and learn directly from New Zealand National Team Para players ranging from Class 2 to Class 11; they were attending a Training Camp.

Practising against a robot (Photo: John Tuki)

One member of the group, Max Henderson was delighted the players attended.

“The excitement and enthusiasm Para players exhibit is infectious. It makes coaching them and learning from them a pleasure” Max Henderson.

Multi-ball training was included in the itinerary (Photo: John Tuki)

Through increasing the skills of local coaches the five associations represented have now taken steps to ensure there are more opportunities for young players to learn table tennis across the wider North Island of New Zealand.

A training session in progress (Photo: John Tuki)