Bringing Health & Well-Being to the Table: WTTD 2026 Promoters Workshop to Strengthen Event Impact
As the global movement towards World Table Tennis Day 2026 continues to grow, the ITTF Foundation recently hosted the second WTTD 2026 Promoters Workshop, bringing together 37 Promoters from around the world to explore how the theme Health & Well-Being can be meaningfully integrated into local celebrations.
Building on the energy of the kick-off workshop, this session focused on transforming the global theme into practical actions that organisers can implement within their communities. The workshop was delivered by the ITTF Foundation Health Team, with valuable insights and contributions from Ramon Ortega Montes (Health Impact Manager) and Lea Hure (Health Impact Coordinator), who shared their knowledge and expertise to help Promoters create deeper impact at their celebration events.
Understanding Health Beyond the Physical
The workshop began by exploring the broader definition of health, highlighting that well-being extends far beyond physical fitness. The overall concept of health encompasses physical, mental, and social well-being, and table tennis can play a powerful role in supporting all three dimensions.
Ramon and Lea also introduced the core idea of Sport for Development, emphasising how table tennis can serve not only as a sport to practice and improve performance, but also as a tool to promote healthier lifestyles, strengthen communities, and create positive social impact.
Activating Health & Well-Being through Table Tennis
To help Promoters bring the theme to life, the session introduced several Health & Well-Being activity blocks with different definitions and aims on different age groups, which can be incorporated into WTTD celebrations. These activity blocks include:
- Physical activity and prevention of non-communicable diseases (NCDs)
- Mental health and social connection
- Brain health
- Nutrition awareness
- Gender awareness, reproductive care, and family planning
The Health Team also demonstrated practical exercises and activity ideas that organisers can easily implement during their local events. The examples showed how table tennis activities can be creatively adapted to raise awareness about health topics while keeping celebrations fun, inclusive, and engaging.
A Handbook to Support Global Celebrations
To further support organisers worldwide, the exercises and examples will be compiled into the World Table Tennis Day 2026 Health & Well-Being Handbook coming up next week.
The handbook will serve as a practical guide for Promoters, event organisers, and anyone who wants to implement table tennis for health activities, providing ideas and tools to help individuals and groups integrate health-focused initiatives into their celebrations and align with the global WTTD 2026 theme.
Learning From Each Other
A key highlight of the workshop was the interactive exchange among Promoters, who shared their own ideas and approaches for integrating health into their local celebrations.
Two Promoters, Manuela Simones and Karin Gosset, presented their early plans for World Table Tennis Day 2026, explaining how they are connecting table tennis activities with health-related initiatives in their communities. Their experiences and creative approaches offered valuable inspiration for the other Promoters in conceiving and preparing their own events.
The presentation and discussion reflected the enthusiasm, creativity, and commitment shared by the global Promoters network and the true value of mutual learning in using table tennis to promote a healthier and more connected world.
Moving Forward Together
As the second WTTD 2026 Promoters Workshop equipped participants with practical tools, fresh ideas, and renewed inspiration to connect their celebrations with the spirit of Health & Well-Being, we have taken another meaningful step together towards the global celebration of World Table Tennis Day on 23 April.
As preparations continue to build momentum, we invite everyone to join this journey, explore the power of table tennis for Health and Well-being as well as bring these ideas into your own WTTD event. Together with our Promoters and worldwide communities of all ages and backgrounds, we move and connect, while making the WTTD 2026 celebrations stronger, healthier, and more joyful.
Let Table Tennis Move You!
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