Blackpool Table Tennis Club has been awarded the coveted Sport England Clubmark award by the English Table Tennis Association (ETTA), with the help of Blackpool Council, and has taken the total number of clubs to achieve the award to 1000.



Leaders of the Blackpool club, which has roots in Blackpool dating back to the 1930s, have been working towards the goals of Clubmark for more than two years, which sets a benchmark for standards.

Clubmark is achieved by working through ETTA’s Premierclub programme and Blackpool Table Tennis club becomes the first in the North West to attain the award at advanced level.

With the aid of Blackpool Council’s Leisure Services Department who provided help, support and advice, Blackpool Table Tennis Club successfully completed the programme, meeting the criteria on issues such as child protection, coaching and competition, ethics and club management.

Andrea Holt, ETTA’s North West Development Officer - Olympian and former England number one - has also been on hand to give them guidance and support.

The Sport England’s Clubmark scheme has now achieved 1000 fully accredited clubs in 20 different sports. It means that the scheme is rapidly becoming the established quality standard for all sports clubs in the country.

Sport England’s Chief Executive Roger Draper said: “Congratulations to Blackpool Table Tennis Club on their Clubmark award. It is not easy to reach the standards demanded by the scheme so Blackpool should be very proud of all they have achieved.  

“The Clubmark scheme is really gaining momentum. It is good that we have 1000 accredited clubs but perhaps even more encouraging is that over a thousand more clubs have applied to join.”

Paul Walker, Director of Leisure, Culture and Community Learning at Blackpool Council, said, “Many different sporting organisations in Blackpool are working towards Clubmark status with the help of Blackpool Council.

“We aim to raise standards across the board so that the public can expect a certain level of professionalism in coaching, facilities and club administration.”

Michael Parker, chairman of Blackpool Table Tennis Club, said, “We are delighted to achieve Clubmark status and it is a credit to everyone involved in the club that we met all the various targets set by Sport England.

“We have around 35 young people registered with the club and a further 25 youngsters who play on an ad hoc basis. When we move to Palatine Sports Centre soon, we will have the capability to hold training sessions three times per week.”