TWO international table tennis players – and a top-ranked Scottish junior – paddled their way into Barrow for some valuable junior coaching.

Scotland player Calum Main and Askam’s own Emily Bolton – a regular in an England jersey at various age groups in the past decade – were on hand for a special session at Hawcoat Park.

Along with Scotland’s number two ranked cadet Danny Bajwa, they worked with an enthusiastic group of youngsters, aged between eight and 14.

The children, most of whom have been taking part in regular coaching sessions with the Barrow and District League, with the aim of forming new teams as soon as next season, were able to practice and learn from Main, Bolton and Bajwa to further improve their game.

Barrow league secretary Paul Ackred was delighted with the response of the children and hopes they can be inspired by coming across players at the top of the game.

“The kids loved it,” said Ackred, who hopes to bring Main back for further regular coaching sessions in the future for both juniors and seniors from the league. “We even had three boys who came down from Kendal to take part.

“Hopefully they will have picked up some advice, coaching tips and things to work on, and they can bring those into the sessions we run.

“It gives them something different. Sometimes another coach will see something different in a player that we might not see, and they will pick something up.

“It’s also the opportunity to say they have practised with and been coached by a Scottish international, an English international and the number-two cadet in Scotland – a 15-year-old boy. It gives those kids something to aspire to, they think ‘he’s 15, if I keep at it, then perhaps I can be as good as him’. There’s absolutely no reason why they shouldn’t be.”

The session with the three top-ranked players, funded by the league to help reduce the costs, followed on from those six months of regular coaching with the league, and Ackred added: “It’s a long, slow process. We are the same as all the sports – we’re fighting against every other sport that’s going: football, golf, rugby etc. A lack of suitable venues is a big problem for us, but it is also the fact that table tennis is not widely available in the schools, yet kids want to play it.

“We’re trying to provide an avenue by which they can come along and practise. They can have coaching if they want, but if they just want to have a little knockabout, that’s fine as well.

“We’ve had kids there from the age of six and up, and we have smaller table which the younger ones can play on. It’s a step in the right direction.”

Junior table tennis coaching takes place every Thursday throughout the year at Hawcoat Park.

Sessions are open to all players up to the age of 16, and take place between 6.30pm and 7.30pm. The cost is £2 and equipment can be provided.

Extra sessions are also being run during the school summer holidays. They occur on Tuesdays, between 9am and noon, also at Hawcoat Park.