MESC Table Tennis Club

The former Boothen Neighbourhood Centre in Stoke has been given a new lease of life thanks to the MESC Table Tennis Club (MESC TTC) who have taken the facility on as their new base - attracting players from outside the local area. The club, which has been in existence for over 60 years now boasts 90m2 of world class beating Taraflex® Table Tennis Sports floor from international flooring specialist Gerflor in ‘Red’ for their main sports room and it looks first class.

MESC TTC is a Table Tennis England “Premier Club and it has members of all ages ranging from 8-80+ years of age. They also coach juniors and have teams in the National Cadet and Junior League. The intention is that the new venue will move the club forward and eventually become a centre of excellence in the area. The building is now in use seven days a week and offers a place for both experienced and developing table tennis players of all ages to hone their skills.

Malcolm Dawson, Chairman, MESC TTC commented, “The project came about because we were moving to our new premises, which we took over from the Local Authority as part of a Community Asset Transfer. We had been developing the venue from a very small hall, with offices and storerooms into a fit for purpose table tennis specific venue. This involved security fencing outside, security cameras, installing a new ceiling plus LED lighting, removing internal walls, and finally upgrading the sports floor to an Olympic pedigree solution.”

Malcolm Dawson added, “We chose Gerflor’s Taraflex Table Tennis Sports Floor after much research, and as this flooring is approved by the ITTF (which is the Table Tennis’s international governing body), we knew it would be perfectly fit for purpose and our user’s needs.”

The installation of the Gerflor Taraflex® Table Tennis Sports floor would need to be undertaken by a company who would meet the high levels of professionalism that the laying of the new floor would demand. Manchester-based XL Gym Interiors Ltd would be the appointed flooring contractor. The staff at XL Gym Interiors have worked in the health and fitness industry for over 20 years, and witnessed trends come and go. Their job is to make sports facilities current, interesting, and an enjoyable space to train and compete in.