How British table tennis champion Jason Sugrue shapes London's youth
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Sugrue → shape → youth
Jason Sugrue had just returned from a summer training camp in China and was about to become the UK’s number one-ranked U15 table tennis player when his mother sat him down to tell him that his father, Buxton, had been shot and killed while he was away.
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he → return → him
Jason was incredibly close to his father — a warm, charismatic figure who ran a local table tennis club and was much loved in the community — and in that instant, his world collapsed.
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world → run → instant
“I adored my father and spent more time with him than anyone, and from the moment my mother told me, I have a complete blank in my memory,” says Jason.
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Jason → adore → memory
“Apparently, I ran out of the house and got picked up by the police 24 hours later.
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I → run → police
I have no recollection of those 24 hours.”
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I → have → hours
Angry at the world following his father’s murder and struggling with dyslexia at his secondary school in north-west London, Jason channelled all his energy into table tennis and, at 25, it paid off: he became the 2006 British and Irish Men’s Table Tennis Champion.
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he → follow → 25
Winning and competing at the highest level gave Jason focus, but it did not make him happy.
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him → win → focus
It was only when he joined a new charity, Greenhouse — since renamed Greenhouse Sports — that his life began to find its purpose.
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life → join → purpose
Yet, even then, the journey took time.
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journey → take → time
“I was employee number four at Greenhouse and its first full-time coach,” recalls Jason.
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Jason → recall → Greenhouse
“At first, I was all about training young people to be brilliant players, but I look back now and realise I was a bad coach in those early years.
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I → train → years
When my young charges did not perform, I would punish them.
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I → perform → them
Performance sport is a dog-eat-dog affair and I was trying to teach them to be winners, but that attitude is now at odds with what Greenhouse and true coaching are about.
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Greenhouse → try → what
Today, our emphasis is all about developing the child, not the player, and on the connection and care needed to help them develop as a person.
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them → develop → person
”Our emphasis is all about developing the child, not the player”
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emphasis → develop → child
Today, Jason, 47, is the Director of Coaching at Greenhouse Sports and mentors 60 other coaches.
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Jason → mentor → coaches
He turned down a prestigious job offer to become performance coach for the British Olympic table tennis team at the 2016 Rio Olympics because he believes that what Greenhouse is doing — improving the life chances of disadvantaged young Londoners through sport mentoring — is more important than winning at the elite level.
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improving → turn → level
This month, The Standard has joined forces with Greenhouse Sports to create Sporting Chance, a campaign championing sports coaching and mentoring to help transform the lives of young Londoners growing up in poverty-impacted neighbourhoods.
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Standard → join → neighbourhoods
The Evening Standard Dispossessed Fund has pledged £500,000 to the campaign, of which half will fund Greenhouse programmes in five secondary schools in London.
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half → pledge → London
The other £250,000 will support four further charities, offering coach-mentoring in football, boxing, martial arts and kayaking.
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250,000 → support → football
To reach more young people, we are seeking donations from corporations, philanthropists and you, our readers.
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we → reach → corporations
Jason says that since he joined Greenhouse in his twenties, the charity has reached more than 100,000 children and currently supports 8,000 a year across schools and at its community centre in the deprived Church Street ward of Westminster.
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charity → say → Westminster
The charity offers each school basketball, table tennis, or tennis, and in rare cases volleyball.
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charity → offer → cases
Schools contribute around one-third of the cost of the programme.
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Schools → contribute → programme
Greenhouse also runs holiday camps and employability sessions.
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Greenhouse → run → camps
How did Jason rethink the way he coached — and with it, Greenhouse’s youth development philosophy — and what precipitated the change?
“When I first started coaching, I was a performance athlete and I tended to evaluate a child’s worth and my allocation of time by how good they were and how hard they were prepared to practise,” he says.
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he → rethink → were
“If they didn’t practise or perform, I wouldn’t engage as much.
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I → practise → ?
They had to meet my benchmarks and my targets, not theirs.
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They → have → benchmarks
He adds: “Then, 11 years ago, I became a father and started to rethink my approach.
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I → add → approach
I realised I had the whole thing back to front — that it was all about fostering their journey, not imposing mine.
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it → realise → mine
Becoming a father prompted me to reflect on my own traumatic childhood growing up in poverty and to recognise that what I really needed as a 14-year-old was connection and care from trusted adults, not necessarily to win things.
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needed → become → things
“We began to develop a theory of change and I started to change the way I coached based on how I would want a coach to speak to my own daughter.
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coach → begin → daughter
It’s not the sport that kids come back for; it’s the connection and the care with the coach.
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it → ’ → coach
Sport is the hook, but it’s the relationship with the coach that makes them stay.
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them → ’ → coach
How your money can help Greenhouse Sports
£15 Could enable a young person to access their programme for a week
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15 → help → week
£65 Could provide 4 weeks of sports coaching and mentoring, helping a young person build confidence, resilience and a sense of belonging
£165 Could provide coaching and mentoring during school holidays
£800 Could provide a full year of coaching and mentoring, ensuring they stay engaged with school and develop the life skills to fulfil their potential
More recently Jason enrolled in a masters in Sports Coaching and Human Development.
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Jason → provide → Coaching
He now sees part of his role as “re-educating” the dozens of Greenhouse Sports coaches who support thousands of disadvantaged children across London.
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who → see → London
One of those coaches is Zion Boumpoutou, 25, who was “a Greenhouse kid” at 13 and, eight years later became a Greenhouse table tennis coach, most recently at a school in Tower Hamlets.
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who → become → Hamlets
“I grew up in Tooting where there was a lot of gang violence and I was quite vulnerable,” he says.
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he → grow → violence
…and 23 more, not listed.
The Aporia
