Table Tennis Takes to the Streets

Thousands of Londoners will be playing table tennis in the street this summer thanks to the first investment by Sport England's Innovation Fund in a project titled Ping!

 
Ping!, which runs from 24 July 2010, will see 100 table tennis tables spring up across London's most visible spaces including squares, landmarks, offices, train stations, community locations and even airports. All tables will be available for free impromptu use, alongside a varied programme of master classes, competitions and round the clock activity including:
* Passport to Pingland
* Literary Ping Pong
* Master Class Coaching Sessions
* Beat-the-robot contests
* Singles For Singles
* Battle of The Rails
* Surreal Ping Pong at the Barbican
* Wiff Waff – A Playful Lecture.
 
Equipment will be provided with each table, with bats bearing the request to: "Please put me back". Local custodians such as shop keepers will look after the equipment.
 
Ping! is being delivered through a unique partnership between Sing London, a participatory arts organization –- and the English Table Tennis Association (ETTA). ETTA has already begun installing 50 permanent outdoor tables across London, also funded by Sport England, and these will be complemented by 50 hardwearing temporary tables, which will be erected for a month, beginning on July 24.
 
After launching in London, Ping! will travel to four other cities in England before returning to London as part of the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic celebrations, giving well over 200,000 people the chance to pick up a bat and get involved for free. Sport England is investing £216,848 of National Lottery funding in the first year of the scheme, with further investment earmarked for 2011 and 2012.
 
Sing London has a successful record of engaging the public in participatory events. Last year over 250,000 people played on, or sung around, pianos it placed on the streets of London.
 
Ping! Director, Colette Hiller, said:
"Our projects are all about generating public spirit. Our aim is to make participation feel irresistible. By taking part in something you feel a part of it and ping pong is something which everyone likes to play."
 
Richard Yule, ETTA's Chief Executive, said:
"It is fantastic for table tennis to be at the forefront of further cutting edge interventions to increase sustainable mass participation. We recognize there is a growing and significant demand for informal opportunities to play table tennis that is outside of the scope of our traditional club and league structure. Ping! and the outdoor table initiatives will allow us to embrace this growing market and also reestablish table tennis in the public's imagination as a fun, sociable and desirable sport to play."
 
Through the Innovation Fund, Sport England is investing National Lottery funding in groundbreaking projects, which will help to deliver a lasting grassroots sporting legacy from the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games.
Jennie Price, Sport England's Chief Executive, said:
 
"Sport England's job is to make sure everyone has the chance to play a sport that interests them, and sometimes that means taking the sport to the people, rather than the people to the sport. Table tennis has a very wide appeal, and I hope thousands of people will take advantage of these outdoor tables and will enjoy playing."
 
At the end of the project, the temporary tables will be donated to schools, youth centres and community centres, with ETTA and the charity Greenhouse running an ongoing outreach programme to promote continued participation.