Isle of Man Project

The Cooke & Deaton Table Tennis team recently embarked on their latest trip to the Isle of Man where we’ve been running an ongoing project with the players on the Island. This project began after meeting Tim and Karenza at our Summer School, after Table Tennis England’s centenary evening auction. After enjoying their time with us, they invited us over to work with their local squads.

Since then, we've been visiting the Isle of Man twice a year, helping to develop the skills and talents of the island's players. Over the last year and a half, we've seen real progression among the squads. Some of the best school-aged players are now participating, eager to grow and compete at higher levels. Two of such players, Wilma and William, discovered Cooke & Deaton through these coaching sessions and earlier this year joined us at our Summer School. After a great week with us, both have since gone off to university, continuing to balance their education with their table tennis.

Our coaching team, including Alan, Nic, Kelly Sibley, and Matt Ware, have worked together to offer a wide range of coaching experiences. Each coach brings their own perspective and methods, creating an ongoing development program for the island’s players. This team effort has been crucial in sharing our coaches diverse set of skills and knowledge that has helped these players make significant improvements. 

For younger players, the challenge increases as they approach university age, where balancing education with table tennis becomes harder. Despite this, their enthusiasm remains strong, and these players are determined to continue their development.

Being on an island presents unique challenges. With limited sparring partners and match variation, it can be tough for players to get the same level of competitive experience as their mainland counterparts. We’re extremely impressed by the dedication — many players are willing to travel to England and the other nations for competitions and seek out quality coaching, even though it comes at a cost in time and resources. We're proud to support this commitment and help them grow.

 Now in our second year of supporting this Isle of Man project, we’ve recently completed our third visit. It was an action-packed weekend with a wide range of sessions for both junior and senior groups. We focused on a variety of skills, including counting challenges, service and receive drills, and interval training. The players pushed themselves to their limits, and it’s great to see their hard work is paying off — consistency is improving noticeably.

One of the standout aspects of our most recent visit was the service practice. Kelly Sibley, one of our lead coaches, noted: “Everyone was really engaged, and I could see some real improvement in technique and placement. Spending time on service practice made a huge difference, so I’d recommend continuing to dedicate time to this in every session.

We also worked on the 3rd and 5th ball attack, which is vital for decision-making and quick reactions. Focusing on working with spin in these moments will improve both quality and consistency." 

Overall, the energy, enthusiasm, and willingness to learn from the players were inspiring. We’ve been pushing them with new challenges, like counting and competitive scoring, which have brought about tangible improvements across the squads. We're excited to continue this journey with them and can’t wait for our next visit!