A school that has been working with a charity for over a year to improve sports participation hosted a national table tennis tournament last week.

Students at Nightingale Academy, in Edmonton, have benefitted from the table tennis coaching of Greenhouse Sports’ Simon Hoang.

On Sunday November 26 18 of the school’s students played in the first of four National Cadet League table tennis tournaments.

Teams from 20 schools from around the country competed in the under-15s competition.

Simon, who believes the students will be near the top of the national ranking once the tournament is over, said: “Students at Nightingale come in for team training before and after school and I give them mentoring and one to one coaching during the lesson time and lunch breaks.

“They also attend training and competitions on the national circuit at weekends.

“We have students at Nightingale who are capable of winning one of the divisions in the tournament.

“They will set the standard for upcoming year groups and teams.”

Simon Hoang’s role at Nightingale Academy extends to developing students’ life skills.

Greenhouse Sports specialises in coaching and mentoring social, emotional, thinking and physical development in schools in deprived areas.

Table Tennis England sponsors the National Cadet League which is aimed at giving grass roots players experience.