Sport-by-sport - Disability Table Tennis
Neil Robinson
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| Chairman | N/A | |
|---|---|---|
| Chief Executive | Peter Taylor | |
| Performance Director | Gorazd Vecko |
Sport Profile
| Funding Award (2009-2013) | £1,699,400 |
| London 2012 Performance | 1 Silver, 3 Bronze |
| Athletes on World Class Performance Programme | 16 |
| Past Performances | Paralympic Games, Athens, 2004: Silver (1) James Rawson/Neil Robinson/Stefan Trofan (teams 3); Bronze (1) Catherine Mitton (singles 1-2) |
| Press Officer | Louise Larcome |
| National governing body | British Table Tennis Association for the Disabled |
“Thank you to UK Sport and the National Lottery for the support, it has helped me prepare for London 2012 and I wouldn’t have been able to improve without it.”
GB athlete Ross Wilson
Thirteen athletes form the ParalympicsGB table tennis squad, including veteran of three Paralympic Games, Sue Gilroy MBE, who has been a National Lottery funded athlete through the UK Sport World Class Performance Programme since 1998.
With over £1.6million of investment for the London cycle (2009-13) and Performance Manager Gorazd Vecko at the helm, the squad has been working hard to prepare for London 2012, where they are determined to make up for the disappointment of failing to win a medal in Beijing four years ago.
Supported by UK Sport, the British Open Para Table Tennis Championships – an important event in the run up to the 2012 Paralympics – attracted more than 400 people from as far as Venezuela, Hong Kong and Australia, when it took place at the English Institute of Sport, Sheffield (EISS) and generated around half a million pounds for the city’s economy. The event also provided British players vital experience of competing in front of a home crowd ahead of the London Paralympic Games.
UK Sport directly supported disability table tennis with a tailored team development process focussed on generating greater team cohesion and effective communication amongst the coaching team. This was supported by 1:1 mentor support for Assistant Coach Matt Kenny, whilst Head Coach Greg Baker completed the Elite Coaching Apprenticeship Programme.
Player turned coach, Neil Robinson MBE, was selected for UK Sport’s first ever Paralympic-specific coaching programme, the Paralympic Coach Development initiative (PCDi), graduating in early 2012.
He said: “PCDi has had a significant impact on my coaching career. The process of moving from being an athlete to coach is not easy. PCDi has helped me to first look at myself, then other people and has assisted me in getting the best out of myself and others. It has given me the chance to meet and exchange ideas with coaches from other sports and establish ‘networks’.”
Did You Know?
In January 2012 Will Bayley rose to the top of the men’s class seven world rankings, becoming just the second Brit to achieve this feat.
Selected athletes:
Will Bayley
Victoria Bromley
Jane Campbell
Paul Davies
Rob Davies
Kim Daybell
Sue Gilroy MBE
Sara Head
Paul Karabardak
Aaron McKibbin
Scott Robertson
David Wetherill
Ross Wilson
