Spinneroos A Big Hit at Ngutu College

The Spinneroos in Sporting Schools program continues to be an excellent winter choice for schools across the nation. Ngutu College in South Australia, an institution grounded in the values of Aboriginal cultures, has embraced the benefits of Table Tennis through Sport Australia’s Club Connect program.

Having reached its final leg in Term 2, the Club Connect initiative, piloted by Sport Australia to support students’ transition to local clubs, proved to be a great success for Ngutu College in fostering a connection with the local Woodville Table Tennis Club.

In seeking opportunities to offer sports that could cater to students of all genders and abilities, the school found Spinneroos to be suitable in introducing students to a new sport through activities that are both fun and adaptive.

Ngutu College Sports Coordinator Sean Carey explained that the accessibility and a sense of safety linked with Table Tennis appealed to children of varying ability levels including those not inclined to engage in contact-based activities or robust movements.

“This is a very different opportunity and we’ve seen interest being generated among kids who wouldn’t necessarily gravitate towards sport or physical activity generally”, Carey said.

Carey re-emphasized that the most rewarding aspect of delivering Spinneroos was seeing interest and confidence develop among participants, as well as seeing some new faces or children with a disability getting involved.

“The awareness of table tennis has grown at the school and we’ve had kids and parents asking about the next session, how to follow up and the opportunities that flow on from here”

Coach Anshul Thakran, who is also the Participation and Development coordinator at TTA, said that the kids were growing in skills as well as confidence with each session and it was helpful to work in collaboration with the teacher, Miles Cave, who engaged the classroom really well to allow Anshul to focus on a sport-specific delivery.

“It has been beneficial for Miles to work with the coach and incorporate some table tennis specific skills and techniques into his delivery methods”, Carey highlighted. The benefits of this are evident with room for weekly table tennis sessions already established within Ngutu College’s Physical Education program.

Woodville Table Tennis Club’s presence across the program also sparked further interest among kids and parents to explore opportunities to play table tennis in the local community.

Head Coach at Woodville TTC, Anthony Ferro and Woodville player Travis Heinis together led a series of exciting activities at the last session. From displaying a demonstration match to teaching the basics of scoring and conducting a fun round of competitions, they rounded up the program on a high note.

Carey agreed that the Spinneroos Table Tennis program has been instrumental in fostering positive engagement and collaboration among children.

“Having the Sporting Schools grant and the support of Table Tennis Australia and Woodville Table Tennis Club has certainly helped us in getting a new sport up and running and achieve a lot in just four weeks” he said.

Table Tennis Australia thank all involved in the successful delivery of the program! 

To learn more about TTA’s Sporting School program, click here. Keep an eye out for the next round of Sporting Schools funding and contact anshul@tabletennis.org.au to get involved.