Table Tennis England Shifts from September 1, 2026: Supervised Roles Also Need DBS Checks

On Tuesday evening, September 29, 2026, while most table tennis clubs in England had already closed their training halls, an online webinar opened. There was no ball, no match score, but that one hour may matter more than a full season. Table Tennis England invited its Designated Safeguarding Officer, Kyhl Daly, to explain changes to DBS requirements. The session runs from 6pm to 7pm and is aimed at club welfare officers, club and league committee members, and volunteers who regularly work with children.

From September 1, 2026, the Crime and Policing Act 2026 removed the supervision exemption from the legal definition of Regulated Activity. Previously, some volunteers and coaches working with children under supervision did not need a DBS check. Now, supervised roles are treated the same as unsupervised ones. That means every adult in regulated activity, even when another adult is present, must be checked if their role falls within the legal definition.

I have worked in sports media long enough to know that the most important matches are not always played on the table. They happen in empty corridors, in registration lists, and in the quiet questions clubs are afraid to ask. In 2026, the press room where I arrived had no seat reserved for me, but I brought my own chair. DBS in English table tennis is similar. When the rules left a gap for a helper, for an adult standing near the children, the child still had the right to know who that adult was. Since September 1, that seat can no longer remain empty.

DBS stands for Disclosure and Barring Service. It helps clubs identify people who have criminal records relevant to working with children and those who are barred from such roles. But DBS is not only paperwork. Extending DBS requirements forces clubs to answer basic safeguarding questions: who is looking after the children, how often, and under what conditions. Numbers never explain themselves. They only tell stories when someone is willing to listen. If a club says no safeguarding problem has ever occurred, that may simply mean no one has looked closely enough.

The webinar is not meant to make every club perfectly safe overnight. It is designed to give Club Welfare Officers and volunteers a clearer process and a shared language. Kyhl Daly will explain how Table Tennis England manages DBS checks and why this matters for safeguarding children in the sport. The core insight is simple: DBS is the first barrier, not the final wall. It does not replace training or compassion, but it creates a necessary moment of reflection.

Trophies fade, but the memory of a child who played in a protected environment lasts far longer. When a club asks a new volunteer to undergo a DBS check, it is not just processing a form. It is saying that table tennis cannot be separated from the responsibility to protect people. The webinar on September 29 lasts one hour, but its impact may change club culture for years.