Attending on the day were representatives from many of the local leagues and counties within the West Midlands Region. Speakers included Sandra Roden (English Sports Council), Alan Ransome (Chairman of ETTA), Michel Gadal (Performance Director), Peter Hirst (Director of Coaching) and Chris Newton (Regional Development Officer).

To put a full day into a few words is a difficult objective to achieve but starting the day off was ex RDO Sandra Roden who gave the delegates an overview of the latest ESC policies and how they fit into today’s climate. Following on from Sandra was Alan Ransome who gave a long but excellent and well informed presentation on all areas of the ETTA and the vision for the future.

After lunch it was the turn of Michel Gadal the newly appointed Performance Director to talk about his vision for the future of English players, this included how the National Academy was panning out and who was included in this scheme. Next to speak was the new Director of Coaching Peter Hirst who talked about the future of the national coaching scheme.

To end the list of presenters was Chris Newton the Regional Development Officer for the West Midlands who looked at his role, services and future for the West Midlands. The penultimate event of the conference was the Open Forum where all delegates were given the opportunity to ask development related questions to the panel and to conclude the day speakers remained around for an hour afterwards to discuss any other matters or queries they may have held.

To put this day into context as stated previously is a difficult task but it becomes apparent that there is a future for table tennis; for the players, for coaches and for club organisers. It might not be an easy task but it is possible to take English Table Tennis to new heights especially looking at the quality of staff currently employed by the ETTA and the support given by the English Sports Council.

Chris Newton Regional Development Officer