MORE than 30 female players took part in sessions organised by the Weymouth & District Table Tennis League that were a resounding success.

Supported by a Sportivate funding grant from Active Dorset, competitors included primary school beginners, Weymouth’s top county girl players and adults who were trying the game for the first time.

Weymouth League development officer, Andy Millar, was delighted with the success of the scheme.

He said: “There's been a fantastic response to this initiative and this proves what a popular sport this is for females of all ages and abilities.

“As well as introducing the game to as many beginners as possible we want to support our top players to challenge regularly at a national level.

“We are lucky to have two excellent female coaches from the Weymouth League, Miranda Edwardes and Lily Cherry, and former Olympian Alison Broe attended a couple of sessions to lend her experience.

“This all helped create a good environment for the girls to learn and have a lot of fun along the way. We wanted the sessions to be fun, but we also wanted to challenge every player to improve their skills.”

Former English champion Broe, who helped pass on her experience of the game, added: “I had great fun coaching alongside Matt Ware and Andy Millar at the Weymouth girls' table tennis taster sessions.

“The evening sessions were well attended with budding table tennis stars of all ages willing to take on board some new skills.

“Everyone split into groups and the sessions included the basic strokes, serve and receive plus work on grip, stance and some movement patterns.

“Apart from working hard on their games all the girls had fun and the future looks bright for Weymouth table tennis.”

Clare Sutton has watched her daughter Rosa progress well as part of the coaching set-up over the last couple of years and was keen to sign up herself. She said: “I’ve played a little table tennis over the years with the children but I’d never had any coaching and I have learned so much in just a few weeks.

“The coaches are great, the atmosphere’s fantastic, it’s really fun, and the younger players have been very supportive of us oldies.”

The female table tennis sessions will resume at 6pm on Monday, September 7 at All Saints School and cost £1.

For more details, contact Andy Millar on a.millar212@gmail.com or 07710507075.