Ben Taylor, SWSA member
Benefiting from the program

During January I conducted further training with the South West Sports Academy. This is an Academy set up in the South West region of Victoria mainly centered in the towns of Hamilton and Warrnambool. Most players in the program live 3 to 4 hours from Melbourne, the main town in Victoria. As such these players have had limited opportunities to receive quality instruction up till now.

As part of the overall plan for the area, one of the main aims is to ensure that the program is perpetuated. As a result, during this visit I also conducted a Level 1 Coaches Training course. This is a vital factor in ensuring the ongoing success of such a project. Because they are such a distance from the major cities, it eventually will become onerous for the players to travel constantly to major towns to compete and receive training or for coaches to service the area. By increasing the level of coaching available to the players in the area it cuts down the travel factor. Some 10 coaches form the region attended, keen to improve their own knowledge with the aim of improving the level of players in the area. They underwent a formal training program that will give them accreditation at Level 1 as a Table Tennis Coach.

With this mix of coaching of players and improving the knowledge of coaches in the area, we hope to leave an ongoing legacy in the area.

If living in a remote region is an area of concern for you, contact your National or State Table Tennis body or even your local government body and see if they can help you to set up a program like this. If you need further information you can also Ask the Coach and we will be able to help you out.