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Spin to win!
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Spin to win!
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Following on from my recent thread about the future of online table tennis content, I thought I'd share something I've been working on and get some opinions.
As I mentioned in that discussion, I've considered making table tennis videos before. I'd still be interested in producing some relatively low-effort video content, particularly around matches, personalities and the occasional bit of nonsense. But the hassle of filming, editing and producing everything to a decent standard has always been the sticking point.
I enjoy table tennis. I'm not particularly interested in turning my hobby into a second job!
So I've been experimenting with something a little different.
Introducing The Clubhouse:
I captain two teams playing in separate local Premier Divisions here in the UK, and I've built a website bringing everything together.
Fixtures, results, league tables, player statistics and profiles are all there, but I've also started publishing humorous match reports under the banner of The Clubhouse Chronicles.
The idea is to make grassroots table tennis a bit more entertaining, rather than simply reporting that someone beat someone else 3–1 on a Thursday evening.
I'm hoping the characters, rivalries, running jokes and general nonsense might eventually make the stories interesting beyond the handful of people actually playing.
It's still very much a work in progress, and I've used AI extensively to help me build it, write and polish content, and create the artwork. I'm not pretending otherwise.
A few things I'd particularly appreciate feedback on:
1. The website and content
Does it work? Is it interesting? Is it easy to navigate?
More importantly, if you had absolutely no connection to either team, would you actually bother reading a match report or following what happens throughout the season?
Or is this inevitably something that will only interest the players and their mates?
2. The player profile pictures
The player portraits are based on real photographs of the actual players, but I've used AI to give them a consistent, slightly anime-inspired, illustrated style.
This was a deliberate choice. Rather than having a mixture of blurry phone pictures, different lighting, random backgrounds and varying image quality, I wanted something that looked cohesive and gave the website a bit of personality.
Personally, I really like how they've turned out.
But I'm interested in what others think.
Do you like the illustrated style? Does it work for a grassroots table tennis website, or would you rather see traditional player photographs?
And importantly, does the anime-inspired look come across clearly enough as an intentional artistic choice, rather than AI attempting to create realistic photographs?
I'm not trying to pass them off as unedited pictures. I just wanted something consistent, recognisable and a little different.
3. The domain and identity
For now, it's hosted on a subdomain of my personal website. That was the simplest way to get it running.
If there were genuine interest beyond the teams themselves, I'd consider giving The Clubhouse its own domain and perhaps developing it into something more independent.
But equally, I'm not going to spend money or effort creating a 'brand' if the only regular readers are me and the other players!
4. Would anyone actually subscribe?
One idea I've considered is allowing visitors to subscribe to receive an email whenever a new match report, article or video is published.
Realistically, that might only be a couple of emails a week during the season, occasionally more if there's a special event.
Would anyone actually sign up for something like that?
If there were genuine interest, I'd look at building a proper subscription system. But there's not much point creating another feature nobody wants.
5. What would make you come back?
This is probably the biggest question.
If you were going to follow a grassroots table tennis website featuring teams and players you've never met, what would make it worthwhile?
Funny match reports? Player personalities? Rivalries? Short match videos? Behind-the-scenes stuff? Something completely different?
Or would you simply have no interest unless you knew the people involved?
I'm genuinely interested in the answers.
Ultimately, The Clubhouse was built to make life easier for me as a captain and give our players somewhere to follow what's happening.
It already serves that purpose, so anything beyond that is a bonus.
But after the discussion about the difficulty of growing amateur table tennis content, I wondered whether there might be an appetite for something that focuses more on stories, personalities and the community, rather than equipment reviews and professional results.
I'm not looking to become a content creator or start another business. I'd just like to see whether it's possible to make ordinary local league table tennis entertaining to people who aren't actually involved.
Have a look if you fancy it, and feel free to be brutally critical.
I'd much rather hear that something doesn't work than receive a load of polite compliments!
And if you think the whole idea is ridiculous and nobody outside Northampton or Milton Keynes will ever care, that's useful feedback too. 😂
As I mentioned in that discussion, I've considered making table tennis videos before. I'd still be interested in producing some relatively low-effort video content, particularly around matches, personalities and the occasional bit of nonsense. But the hassle of filming, editing and producing everything to a decent standard has always been the sticking point.
I enjoy table tennis. I'm not particularly interested in turning my hobby into a second job!
So I've been experimenting with something a little different.
Introducing The Clubhouse:
The Clubhouse | Badgers × Titans
The shared home of Bugbrooke Badgers and Yardley Titans. Two teams. One squad.
clubhousett.com
I captain two teams playing in separate local Premier Divisions here in the UK, and I've built a website bringing everything together.
Fixtures, results, league tables, player statistics and profiles are all there, but I've also started publishing humorous match reports under the banner of The Clubhouse Chronicles.
The idea is to make grassroots table tennis a bit more entertaining, rather than simply reporting that someone beat someone else 3–1 on a Thursday evening.
I'm hoping the characters, rivalries, running jokes and general nonsense might eventually make the stories interesting beyond the handful of people actually playing.
It's still very much a work in progress, and I've used AI extensively to help me build it, write and polish content, and create the artwork. I'm not pretending otherwise.
A few things I'd particularly appreciate feedback on:
1. The website and content
Does it work? Is it interesting? Is it easy to navigate?
More importantly, if you had absolutely no connection to either team, would you actually bother reading a match report or following what happens throughout the season?
Or is this inevitably something that will only interest the players and their mates?
2. The player profile pictures
The player portraits are based on real photographs of the actual players, but I've used AI to give them a consistent, slightly anime-inspired, illustrated style.
This was a deliberate choice. Rather than having a mixture of blurry phone pictures, different lighting, random backgrounds and varying image quality, I wanted something that looked cohesive and gave the website a bit of personality.
Personally, I really like how they've turned out.
But I'm interested in what others think.
Do you like the illustrated style? Does it work for a grassroots table tennis website, or would you rather see traditional player photographs?
And importantly, does the anime-inspired look come across clearly enough as an intentional artistic choice, rather than AI attempting to create realistic photographs?
I'm not trying to pass them off as unedited pictures. I just wanted something consistent, recognisable and a little different.
3. The domain and identity
For now, it's hosted on a subdomain of my personal website. That was the simplest way to get it running.
If there were genuine interest beyond the teams themselves, I'd consider giving The Clubhouse its own domain and perhaps developing it into something more independent.
But equally, I'm not going to spend money or effort creating a 'brand' if the only regular readers are me and the other players!
4. Would anyone actually subscribe?
One idea I've considered is allowing visitors to subscribe to receive an email whenever a new match report, article or video is published.
Realistically, that might only be a couple of emails a week during the season, occasionally more if there's a special event.
Would anyone actually sign up for something like that?
If there were genuine interest, I'd look at building a proper subscription system. But there's not much point creating another feature nobody wants.
5. What would make you come back?
This is probably the biggest question.
If you were going to follow a grassroots table tennis website featuring teams and players you've never met, what would make it worthwhile?
Funny match reports? Player personalities? Rivalries? Short match videos? Behind-the-scenes stuff? Something completely different?
Or would you simply have no interest unless you knew the people involved?
I'm genuinely interested in the answers.
Ultimately, The Clubhouse was built to make life easier for me as a captain and give our players somewhere to follow what's happening.
It already serves that purpose, so anything beyond that is a bonus.
But after the discussion about the difficulty of growing amateur table tennis content, I wondered whether there might be an appetite for something that focuses more on stories, personalities and the community, rather than equipment reviews and professional results.
I'm not looking to become a content creator or start another business. I'd just like to see whether it's possible to make ordinary local league table tennis entertaining to people who aren't actually involved.
Have a look if you fancy it, and feel free to be brutally critical.
I'd much rather hear that something doesn't work than receive a load of polite compliments!
And if you think the whole idea is ridiculous and nobody outside Northampton or Milton Keynes will ever care, that's useful feedback too. 😂
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