PINGBRUM, the lottery-funded project staged by the English Association in Birmingham for four weeks in the summer, is starting to produce some results.
More than 50 tables were used with various other events in an exercise to get the public to try competitive sport.
Hull and Leicester were other cities where the event took place. The scheme was first unveiled in London in 2010.
The event could well be staged in Birmingham again in 2012 with talks ongoing with the various bodies involved.
The Birmingham North Junior League is under way, the first schools league in the city for more than 30 years.
Organiser Ed Lynn, the ETTA coach based at the Hamstead club, has introduced hundreds of youngsters to the sport since taking up his post 12 months ago.
The next step will be a similar competition in the south of the city.
Birmingham and Warwickshire champion Kate Hughes is another coach to tap into the interest caused by PingBrum.
The England-ranked Worcestershire No.1 has introduced a ladies-only session at the Colebridge club that is proving extremely popular.
Hughes, Helen Turner, Jessica Birbeck and Dawn Sagoo all play in the Premier Division of the Birmingham League against the pick of the West Midlands’ male talent.
Birmingham has produced many talented female players over the years, notably world singles runner-up Ann Haydon (Jones), who went on to be a tennis champion at Wimbledon.
¦ Jack Williamson and Jon Ludlow have helped give Beaufort Sports A an excellent start to the 2011/12 campaign in the Premier Division of the Birmingham League.
Ludlow has been a consistent performer for the club over the years but with Williamson recruited from Smiths Wood for the start of last season, they have since cemented their position in the top four.