DBS and child safeguarding in table tennis: Table Tennis England opens webinar ahead of law change

From September 1, 2026, a legal clause that seemed to concern only paperwork quietly changed how table tennis clubs in England must recruit and supervise volunteers. The Crime and Policing Act 2026 removed the 'supervision exemption' from the legal definition of Regulated Activity. Previously, a coach or volunteer working with children under supervision might not need a DBS check. From September 2026, that no longer holds. Supervised roles are now treated the same as unsupervised ones.

To explain this change to the community, Table Tennis England is holding an online webinar on Tuesday, September 29, from 6 to 7 pm local time. The presenter is Kyhl Daly, Designated Safeguarding Officer at Table Tennis England. The session covers the changes to DBS requirements, what they mean for individuals, and broader information about DBS in table tennis.

The target audience is clear. If you are a Club Welfare Officer, part of a club or league committee, or a volunteer working regularly with children, this webinar is for you. Participants will learn about the regulatory change and how it affects them and the volunteers they may work with. They will also learn more about Table Tennis England's DBS processes and the importance of DBS checks in safeguarding children in the sport.

The core of the change is one word: supervision is no longer a shield of exemption. Previously, the logic behind the supervision exemption assumed that if someone always had another person nearby, risk was controlled. The Crime and Policing Act 2026 rejects that assumption at the legal level. A supervised role is now ranked equal to an unsupervised one. The presence of another adult in the hall no longer replaces the requirement for a background check.

For table tennis clubs, this is no small shift. Many clubs in England run on a small core of certified coaches and a much larger volunteer pool, often parents or students assisting in sessions with children. Some previously fell outside the DBS requirement because they worked under supervision. From September 2026, that boundary disappears. Club committees must review their entire list of personnel in contact with children and determine who needs checks, who needs re-checks, and which processes need adjustment.

Notably, the change does not only affect newcomers. Volunteers who have served for years in supervised roles may also fall under the new definition. This is a point many clubs overlook, focusing on recruiting new people while forgetting to review the existing roster. An old list, an old process, and a new legal definition create a gap exactly where it is most dangerous: when children are present in the hall.

DBS, short for Disclosure and Barring Service, is the body issuing background checks in England and Wales. In sport, a DBS check is a control layer verifying that a person working with children or vulnerable adults is not barred from practice. It is not an absolute shield, and Table Tennis England does not present it as one. But it is a mandatory part of the safeguarding chain, alongside training to recognise signs, internal reporting procedures, and the role of the Club Welfare Officer.

The organisational structure of English table tennis creates a specific profile. This is not football with thousands of fans in the stands, nor swimming with large training centres. Table tennis is organised mainly through community clubs, many operating in local halls, schools, or community centres. The distance between coach and child is very close. A table is 2.74 metres long, two players, one person standing by the table watching technique. There is no large physical distance to create a buffer zone. That makes check and supervision processes a more important line of defence, not less.

The September 29 webinar is designed to answer questions club committees commonly face. Which type of check is appropriate, how Table Tennis England's DBS process operates, how the rule change affects existing volunteers, and how to integrate background checks into daily operations without turning it into a barrier that drives volunteers away. This is not a purely legal briefing. It is operational.

The point many clubs miss when reading such changes is treating it as administrative burden rather than an opportunity to re-examine their operating structure.(1) This approach creates a paradox: when rules tighten, small clubs tend to trim child-related activity to avoid paperwork, while the correct move is to clarify roles and responsibilities. Some fear losing volunteers and delay implementation, yet that delay pushes them into legal risk and child protection risk at the same time.

Analysts tend to read regulatory change by measuring consequences. When a legal definition expands, it affects not only procedure. It affects the number of people eligible to stand in the hall, the time for a new volunteer to be cleared to contact children, and how clubs allocate resources. A club with 30 volunteers, 20 of whom were previously under the supervision exemption, now faces checking 20 extra people. Per file, that is waiting time, processing cost, and an operational gap while awaiting results.

More broadly, this is a general trend in Western sport this decade. National federations are shifting from a model of trust to a model of verification. No country wants to face a child safeguarding scandal, and the cost of a major scandal far exceeds the cost of checking the entire volunteer force. Table Tennis England chooses to lead, running training, publishing processes, and explaining the change before it fully takes effect. That is preventive handling, not reaction.

Another layer is rarely discussed. Tightening background checks will change the composition of volunteer forces at small clubs. People willing to help one evening a week may hesitate at a longer check process. Clubs in sparsely populated areas, where volunteer supply is already thin, may feel the pressure first. This is a balancing problem: safeguarding children is an absolute priority, but keeping enough people so children have a place to play is also part of safeguarding.

The real value of the September 29 webinar is not rereading the law, but helping club committees understand that the DBS process is part of a sustainable development strategy, not a procedure to be managed.When a club has clear processes, parents feel safer sending their children. When volunteer roles are clearly defined, they know how far their responsibility extends. When the check layer is placed correctly, it does not stop good people from joining, but stops unsuitable people from reaching children.

Table tennis is a sport where reaction speed is measured in thousandths of a second. Placing a backspin ball at the right angle forces the opponent to read it in an instant. In sports governance, reaction time matters just as much, only measured in months rather than seconds. A rule effective September 1, a training session on September 29, and a club that must finish reviewing its volunteer list before the next season starts.

What to watch in the coming months is not the content of the Crime and Policing Act 2026, but the pace of adaptation at grassroots clubs. How many clubs complete their review before the first training session of the season. How many Club Welfare Officers join the webinar and turn its content into internal process. How many existing volunteers are re-checked rather than dropped from the list through misunderstanding the rules.

Those questions have no answer on paper. They will appear on Tuesday evenings in the hall, when a child holds a paddle and an adult stands on the other side of the table. Rules only set the frame. The operators decide whom that frame protects.