Table Tennis - My First Gold Challenge Sport

Last night I took part in my first table tennis session at a North London sports centre, along with a number of the people associated with the Gold Challenge, known as "The Torchbearers". I didn't know quite what to expect, but knew that this was going to be first of two sessions required to attain the minimum standard required by the challenge rules to get my first certificate - and the next session is already scheduled in for next Tuesday evening.

I have to admit that I've had several opportunities to join the Torchbearers in the past, but there have always been scheduling conflicts so I was never able to join them until now - and 'what a great way to start' I thought to myself as I have always loved playing table tennis and played it loads growing up. You might think that the only reason I have selected this sport as one of the 10 I'll be doing as part of my personal challenge is that I already know how to play it. The truth is not quite as black and white as that. Being insanely busy trying to get a new company off the ground, the thought of taking on at least 30 hours of training in 10 different sports (not to mention at least the same amount of travelling time on top of that) before the end of 2012 is actually very difficult to find the time for. It is going to be hard work and that's why I thought I'd do a combination of sports I love, sports I've always wanted to try out and I also want to do at least one Paralympic sport. So as you can see, table tennis is a good way for me to get off to a very positive start with my Gold Challenge experience and I was really looking forward to it all day, although with a bit of apprehension as my old knee injury has started to flare up again over the last week or so. The key questions for me prior to arriving were: 1) Are there going to be other players at my level so we can play some games? and 2) Where the H... is my racket?

When I arrived I could see that I needn't have worried. There were about 12 people there tonight and many of them had already played table tennis previously and knew the rules - and were quite decent players to boot. However, there were other people there who had not played before and did not know even the basic rules. Unfortunately, our slightly overworked coach didn't take this into account and for the first few exercises we were just paired up randomly and asked to hit the most basic shots. As the evening progressed we got to play a couple of short games against different opponents and when it was time for the final exercise, I suddenly found myself the odd man out - until a regular playing member there asked me to come and join him on a table. This was when it got a lot of fun! I haven't had rallies like that for 25 years and can't wait for next week's session after that. I was drenched in sweat, but very proud that I was still able to hit some fantastic shots. Oh, and next week it means get my first Gold Challenge certificate!

If this has inspired you to either assist me in my fundraising efforts on behalf of Action for Children or to take on your own Gold Challenge, then why not go ahead and sign up now? You choose the number of sports you want to try out (you can change this later on), the charity you want to help raise funds for and set a target. Gold Challenge then help you set up a personal page, find a venue near you where you can try out a chosen sport, and they can even help you set up your own fundraising page.