Pride of Table Tennis nominees 2023

Read the citations from nominators for those individuals and groups they have nominated for a Pride of Table Tennis Award.

Club of the Year

Continental Stars TTC – Nominated by Steve Bertie

Below are the things we have achieved in the last year.

Four ethnically diverse coaches who have achieved Level 1 session coaches one of which is female.

Awarded Table Tennis England Premier status for the club

Gained a partnership with Co-op to deliver coached community sessions on a weekly basis.

Our biggest achievement to date is the award of the delivery of TT Kidz which we have launched delivered concurrently at our club site and larger TT Kidz sessions consisting of ethnically diverse communities at two school in lower social economic areas of Birmingham.

Continental Stars TTC was a key member of the Commonwealth Games Roadshows attending 15+ events across the West Midlands with Continental Stars TTC members promoting the sport to different members of the community. As a result of this we also attended a Commonwealth Games event hosted by Scope and we delivered a session for young people with health conditions and disabilities. We were invited to the official Commonwealth Games “Thank You Event” in Digbeth Birmingham which was organised by the Commonwealth Games Committee.

Entered 3 Teams in the Birmingham and Solihull District Table Tennis Association in the Premier Division, Division 3 and 4. The team promoted from Division 4 to Division 3 with a player receiving the League Induvial Award for the best performance of the year in the division. This team also has the most representation of female players in a squad in the whole of the Birmingham and Solihull and District Table Tennis Leagues. The Premier team finished third in the League.

A team was also entered into the Summer League.

Members have also entered VETTS Competitions and have represented the County.

Established a constituted club committee consisting of a Chair, Secretary, Treasurer, welfare Officer and Lead Coach.

Our club was approached by TTE to commission our club and members to take part in the promotional video of TT Fast Format. Several members participated in filming and interviewing throughout the session with the resulting video currently being available on the TTE website.

Steve has been at the forefront for leading and developing the Club significantly in the last 12 months.

Worthing TTC – Nominated by Amanda Worne

Worthing Table Tennis Club has Only been running for 1 year and 4 months and in that time has grown and achieved so much.

It won Worthing & District League in the first year of participating and currently has 6 teams in the new season with 60% of new players in the League;

It offers a wide range of sessions at very affordable cost to everyone without judgement or prejudice including sessions for under-13 juniors, adults, 50+, 65+, disabilities, women and girls, whether it be for social recreation reasons or to improve performance and compete.

Worthing Table Tennis Club offers an extensive outreach approach, working with 9 local schools (including 2 Special Needs Schools), care homes, hospitals, local community groups and local authorities

The club currently has approximately 250 participants per week including club and outreach sessions.

The Club’s juniors have the opportunity to do their DoE awards, GCSE’s and A-Levels training

and there are volunteering opportunities to contribute to the running of the club’s and also to be involved in it’s community work.

Some of the objectives for the next 5 years include: a full-time venue, equal mixed gender national appearence on a performance setup, work with 75% of local schools, having disabled players integrating the BPTT’s Pathway programme, SBL and JBL participation (already playing in WBL), a professional coaching team with clear performance goals, and a strong ethos on community engagement.

I am also making this nomination for the personal opportunities the club has given me as a wheelchair user. I am the Club’s Safeguarding and Disability and Equality Officer and Coach. I also play and I am in the local league, and hope to pursue the BPTT Pathway as far as I can and am I being fully supported on this journey by Headcoach Pedro Santos. My life has become so fulfilling and exciting since I joint the club a year ago in September. I have made so many new friends and really feel I am valued and accepted as a wheelchair user which sadly in this day and age is still not always the case and I wouldn’t be where I am now without Worthing Table Tennis club.

Worthing Table Tennis Club has Only been running for 1 year and 4 months and in that time has grown and achieved so much.

It won Worthing & District League in the first year of participating and currently has 6 teams in the new season with 60% of new players in the League;

Worthing Table Tennis Club offers an extensive outreach approach, working with 9 local schools (including 2 Special Needs Schools), care homes, hospitals, local community groups and local authorities

The club currently has approximately 250 participants per week including club and outreach sessions.

The Club’s juniors have the opportunity to do their DoE awards, GCSE’s and A-Levels training

and there are volunteering opportunities to contribute to the running of the club’s and also to be involved in it’s community work.

Coach of the Year

Teresa Bennett – Multiple nominations

Nominated by Darren Smith: She has been all round excellent and helpful and very supportive of me rejoining table tennis after 30 years.

Nominated by Jonathan Kent: Theresa is always cheerful and helpful making a very relaxed atmosphere.

Helpful, encouraging, friendly, supportive, well organise.

Nominated by Digna Baynes: I’ve seen Teresa running a variety of coaching sessions at BTTC as well as outside the club. She has hugely increased the number of women attending the women’s sessions. Her work as a coach with the BTTC women British league team has helped them reach division 1 where they are now playing. Her work with the refugees has helped them to develop their table tennis skills as well as their English and and helped them to integrate with other members in the club. I work as a volunteer with her at Lewes Prison where I am very impressed with her control of the sessions and the way she is able to encourage and communicate with the players in the prison.

At the Brighton Table Tennis Club She has coached and run a variety of sessions:

She runs an over 50 session.
She coaches young refugees.
She runs disability sessions for children and adults.
She runs sessions with young people from Pupil Referral Units
She runs after school table tennis clubs
She runs women’s sessions and also coaches young women in the British league team division 1.
She is involved with Active Sussex to get more women into coaching
She coaches BTTC teams in the Cadet National League

Nominated by Tina O’Donnell: Teresa runs a range of sessions at BTCC – including school children , Disabled young people and Asylum Seeking young people.I want to nominate Teresa for her commitment to the woman’s sessions she runs on Tuesday evenings. I have been going to these sessions for nearly three years. I definitely wouldn’t have gone to these sessions if they weren’t women only.

Teresa had created inclusive sessions for women of all ages, backgrounds and ethnicities! Teresa has done this by remembering peoples names, being encouraging and challenging- and selecting a range of fun and challenging activities so that we can develop our skills. We are always mixed up – never sticking with the same players. What underpins these sessions is the understanding that we play women with a range of abilities and strengths. As a result, some of the women also compete in weekly tournaments- as their confidence has grown.

During the year at key times we may bring in food and have a bit of a competition with medals and some fun activities.

The number of female volunteers and qualified coaches has increased too-they help out with a variety of groups.

If you asked me what are the key characteristics of Teresa’s approach I would say- friendly, encouraging, inclusive, inspiring, challenging, fun and fair! I think Teresa had brought a different element to BTCC and we are really lucky to have her as our coach!

Making a Sussex wide promotional video on being a female coach and player.

Increasing the number of woman’s sessions from 1 to 2

The number of female volunteers have increased

Nominated by Jan Clarke: Teresa brings enjoyment to every coaching session through her enthusiasm, positivity and fun approach. Each session has a clear planned focus and is delivered with clarity and with creative ideas to improve accuracy and technique. The group is very diverse and Teresa manages to make all feel valued whatever their needs are and yet still have the stronger players playing at the right level to improve. She is both an amazing coach and caring person who I feel very fortunate to be coached by.

Teresa brings enjoyment to every coaching session through her enthusiasm, positivity and fun approach. Each session has a clear planned focus and is delivered with clarity and with creative ideas to improve accuracy and technique. The group is very diverse and Teresa manages to make all feel valued whatever their special needs and yet still have the stronger players playing at the right level to improve. She is both an amazing coach and caring person who I feel very fortunate to be coached by.

Nominated by Serena Sussex: Teresa Bennett has been and is still continuously encouraging women to play table tennis , young and old . Her patience and dedication to all ability players are met with great enthusiasm and patience, If it wasn’t for Teresa, there wouldn’t be 25+ regular women attending the women’s evening table tennis session at the brighton table tennis club. We are so grateful for her expertise in the game and sharing her knowledge to us all. She is a joy to be around when playing.

Nominated by Rupert Browning: Teresa is an inspirational champion of the sport and in the time I have been attending her sessions I have seen the numbers attending grow and grow with everyone learning and enjoying the experience. Her coaching sessions have been invaluable to me

Teresa has the knack of getting the most out of everyone and takes a personal interest in all. She seems to be able to mix and match people to their relevant abilities in a seemingly effortless way but one that is highly effective. I highly commend her as coach of the year.

Nominated by Rehana Rose: It isn’t very often in life that you meet someone like Teresa – but when you do, something very special happens… I am in my mid fifties, a woman who has loved table tennis since a youngster, and decided to join the women’s session at Brighton Table Tennis Club… from the warm welcome to the talent, not just of playing table tennis, but teaching table tennis, Teresa shines… she works with a diverse group of women and skills, but makes everyone single one of us feel special and you can see the improvements in all of us – and to top it off she remembers EVERYONE’S names… another skill in itself. Teresa encourages without patronising, she is clearly not just passionate about table tennis, but about making sure each indiviual, regardless of their skill set, or indeed lack of skill, comes away each week feeling good about themselves and their playing of the sport. I find her to be unique, caring and genuine. And she has a laugh too!

Able to facilitate mixed learning without excluding anyone.

Has made the women’s sessions in particular so popular there is often a waiting list to join

Also teaches mixed ability for over fifties – again, with patience, passion and encouragement

Quite simply, Teresa is a legend

Nominated by Jamie Greenland: There’s a teenage boy that she coaches twice a week. He’s got cerebral palsy. It’s so obviously helped him to become a better table tennis player . Coordination and focus like never before .

Then there’s the women’s group- this is so brilliant to see – women thriving through the wonderful game in a way that might feel more intimidating in mixed sessions.

As for the grass roots kids and teens , she is always getting them to competitions all over the country and helping improve their skills with such grace and humility .

She also trained me to become a level one coach a few years ago. These have been invaluable new skills that without her I might not have learnt .

She’s a proper star (and by the way all her own kids have grown into highly successful sports people). Total dedication to helping all levels of people to enjoy and improve at table tennis . What a selfless hard working lovely woman .

Nominated by Susan Maxwell-Stewart: The club itself has made major achievements this year and now the food project has opened for people who cannot afford to buy dinners and is contribution based and helps everyone in this day and age of austerity

I am really impressed with Teresa Bennett who runs the women’s group , two disabled groups which include people with Downs Syndrome, wheelchair, autistic OCD, ADHD and more , refugee groups, schools groups and prison groups plus other club events . She takes the children to their tournaments She has many people joining her groups and are really happy with her teaching . She helps everyone who needs it and when she coaches she plays games that improve their play and make it fun. She is a sensitive lady, with full committment to the club and is so humane Of course this is beside looking after her family too She is a much valued member of our club. I hope this says enough as I am dyslexic and find it difficult to express myself but i really wanted to express my gratfulness towards teresa

The club itself has made major achievements this year and now the food project has opened for people who cannot afford to buy dinners and is contribution based and helps everyone in this day and age of austerity

I am really impressed with Teresa Bennett who runs the women’s group , two disabled groups which include people with Downs Syndrome, wheelchair, autistic OCD, ADHD and more , refugee groups, schools groups and prison groups plus other club events . She takes the children to their tournaments. She has many people joining her groups and are really happy with her teaching .She helps everyone who needs it and when she coaches she plays games that improve their play and make it fun. She is a sensitive lady, with full committment to the club and is so humane Of course this is beside looking after her family too She is a much valued member of our club. I hope this says enough as I am dyslexic and find it difficult to express myself but i really wanted to express my gratfulness towards teresa.

Dave Noutch – Nominated by David Marley

Dave is a Table Tennis England approved L3 Head Coach and runs the Darlington Dolphins Table Tennis Club putting hundreds of hours in to the running of the club. The club meets two night’s week for 2 hours each session. Dave arrives half an hour early to set out the tables and to welcome members. Dave ensures the club is safely run and is inclusive, welcoming all to the club, as can be seen in the range of members in the YouTube video below showing the Table Tennis England visit to the club by Sam Walker arranged by Dave in April 2022.

Dave is the League Secretary for the Darlington Table Tennis League’s, liaising with all the clubs, meeting the team captains and putting together the contact details and fixtures for the season as well as ensuring that all players are registered with Table Tennis England. Without Dave’s 100% commitment it would be difficult for the league to run.

Dave coaches in Junior Schools, Secondary Schools and Colleges and hosts table tennis tournaments. for Darlington Schools to compete, bringing table tennis to hundreds of children across the Borough.

Dave is the coach and support for a “Bat and Chat programme” in conjunction with Darlington Council. Following COVID there was evidence of the need for people to exercise and socialise again, to improve mental health and wellbeing. In conjunction with Darlington Borough Council, Dave offers and runs a “Bat and Chat programme”. The programme runs for two hours on a Friday morning and includes table tennis coaching from Dave with the opportunity to have a break and a coffee to chat and make friends. The programme from a standing start now has 20+ members.

Dave is the L3 Head coach in the area and it is good to see increasing numbers of players training and playing table tennis regularly due to his commitment.

Dave coaches at the Dolphin Centre on Monday nights supporting up to 20 players of which there are 10 men, 2 women and 8 juniors and on Friday nights we have up to 40 players, made up of

15 men, 5 women, 8 juniors and 12 beginners. This represents an increase of 30% since 2021. We used to hire two courts for table tennis tables to be set out, but now we use three courts. Under Dave’s coaching Table Tennis is fully inclusive with Table Tennis available to all.

Dave coaches the following weekly sessions:-

Monday in a primary school, coaching sixteen year 6’s, 8 boys and 8 girls.

Tuesday in a primary school, coaching sixteen year 6’s, 9 boys and 7 girls.

Wednesday in a primary school, coaching twelve players, 6 boys and 6 girls.

Dave runs a Table Tennis Juniors session on a Wednesday tea time coaching, 5 boys and 5 girls. Thursday in the 6th form college, Dave coaches one to one’s with 4 players.

Thursday evening’s Dave coaches in Stockton with 18 players, 6 adults and 12 youngsters

Friday morning Dave runs a “bat and chat club” with between 12 to 16 adults.

Friday afternoon Dave runs a girl’s only session with a local secondary school where he coaches 12 girls.

Many of these youngsters go on to join local table tennis clubs. The number of school children being coached by Dave is up by approximately 20% on the previous year.

Dave also delivers performance Table Tennis coaching to young players. In the last year this has led to several local players coached by Dave, now playing regularly at County Level and at Junior Level in the British Championships.

With Dave’s support as secretary, the Darlington Table Tennis League has recovered from 12 teams in 2021 to 17 teams in 2022, showing a recovery following Covid and a good increase in competitive local table tennis. Dave plays in the League and also competes at the British Championships.

The Darlington Dolphins team that Dave coaches had 3 teams in the local league in 2021, this year 2022 he has increased this to 5 teams, with the number of players participating increasing from 16 to 22.

Highlight of the season, visit to the club of Sam Walker.

Dave immediately became involved in Darlington’s Table Tennis community when he moved here over 15 years ago. Since then he has created an environment that has encouraged young and old to take up or return to the sport in numbers not seen here for many years.

Dave makes a huge coaching contribution to Table Tennis across Darlington, Stockton, Durham and North Yorkshire areas. As well as coaching, he gives much of his time freely and is well known and liked across the Table Tennis community both regionally and nationally.

Contribution to Table Tennis

Jan Johns – Nominated by Catherine Ingram

Jan has inspired generations of youngsters with her enthusiasm and love of table tennis, so that table tennis plays a huge part in enriching the lives of people in our local community.

She was the driving force in providing the vision for a new table tennis facility for the club, and in leading the efforts to secure a huge amount of funding for the project.

As a result of her supreme efforts, Crewe Central Table Tennis Club now has a brand-new table tennis hall (the Bob Hope Academy) with correct flooring, lighting and all the facilities for first-class table tennis provision for all members of the local community.

It provides outreach to the local community, offering dementia-friendly sessions and sessions for the over-55s, as well as youngsters, helping everyone in the community realise their table tennis ambitions, and improve their fitness and resilience, whilst also providing a space for socialising and nurturing relationships. We now have packed adult and junior practice and training sessions, with everyone enjoying and benefitting from the new facilities.

The Club was nominated for and won the Cheshire East Everybody Health and Wellbeing Award 2022, which Jan received from Baroness Tanni Grey-Thompson in October.

Jan was also the winner of the Services to the League Award 2022 at the club AGM.

The youngsters she has encouraged and developed over the years within the club are now making real progress in local and national competitions, with teams making impressive contributions, including club members this year winning the Cheshire Under 16 County Championships and other members contributing to the winning Under 19 teams, as well as the runners-up Under 19 team.

Jan has been an inspirational leader and driving force of the Crewe Central Table Tennis Club for very many years. As a volunteer, she dedicates hours and hours every week to improving the lives of all in our local table tennis community. She tackles everything she does with efficiency, dedication and selflessness.

She has personally led coaching sessions for all members of the club, particularly youngsters, both at our previous base in Crewe and now in our newly refurbished hall in Nantwich.

She has brought other top-level coaches to the club, including Andrew Rushton and Helen Lower, who provide the highest level of coaching to our youngsters and other members of the club. She provides sessions in school holidays to further develop the youngsters, giving endless amounts of her time to keep the youngsters progressing.

She enters the youngsters into various local and national competitions, such as Junior British League, National Junior League, National Cadet League and the county school leagues, often ferrying the youngsters to the competitions herself, as well as coaching and supporting them in their triumphs and disappointments.

She has served on the committee for many years, driving the club forward with her never-ending enthusiasm, always full of ideas for ways of continually improving the club.

In 2021, realising that the facilities we had in Nantwich were not fit for purpose, Jan set about raising a significant amount of money in order to provide new table tennis facilities for the communities of Crewe, Nantwich and further afield. She applied for funding of £10,000 from the local council, which they committed to provide if the local tennis table community could raise the same amount. This seemed an almost impossible task in a tight timescale, but with Jan leading it, anything was possible!

Jan led the project, giving up weekends to do car boot sales with 5am starts with others in the club; asking members to contribute whatever they could and approaching local businesses to be sponsors. Amazingly, the target was achieved.

Jan then arranged tradespeople to provide quotes for all the work needed to refurbish the new hall, as well as overseeing the work and encouraging and co-ordinating volunteers to do jobs such as painting the walls.

We now have a very impressive and thriving new facility – the Bob Hope Academy, which Jan named in honour of another inspirational volunteer from the club who died recently.

Throughout it all, Jan continues to post regular motivational updates on Facebook – how the youngsters are doing in the competitions, updates on progress on the new hall, and committee meeting updates. She organises all the youngsters’ training sessions twice a week and she always keeps table tennis central in everyone’s minds.

We cannot imagine the club without Jan – the whole Crewe table tennis community is proud of and humbled by her efforts. We are immensely grateful for everything she does for the whole community, and we would love to see her being recognised and thanked in receiving a national table tennis award

Female Volunteer of the Year

Josephine Boyd – Nominated by Sheila Lupton

Jo set up Frome Table Tennis club from scratch in June 2019. This was just six months before the Covid pandemic was officially declared, but the club still continued to operate wherever possible within the government guidelines, even managing to extend from one to two club sessions a week in September 2019. Jo facilitated the club’s continued existence throughout the pandemic, drawing up risk assessments to ensuring the safe participation of club members at all times when this was legally and practically possible.

Impact over past year:

Frome table tennis club has steadily grown; it entered two teams in the Mendip table tennis league for the first time in September 2021, and in September 2022 a third team was entered into the local league.

Jo has put a great deal of time and effort into making the club the success it currently is. Despite working full-time and recently becoming a parent, Jo plays in the local league, attends club sessions, manages very many aspects of the running of the club … all as a volunteer.

Over the past year, Jo and her partner Jason have created a growing vibrant club that promotes table tennis at all levels in the local area. The club now has 45 members and runs two club sessions a week as well as competing in the local league and organising “friendly” matches with other clubs. Jason also offers regular weekly coaching time, which has been fantastic opportunity for club players and has made a noticeable on impact on everyone’s play.

In making this nomination, I realise that the Pride of Table Tennis awards specify single rather than joint nominations, but feel I should say that Jo and her partner Jason Papierz are both fantastic ambassadors for the sport of table tennis and really deserve recognition for the time and effort they have put in to developing and growing the Frome club over the past year

Key achievements:

1. Starting a table tennis club from scratch, with zero equipment and zero members. The club now has 45 signed up members, has 5 quality tables (and other equipment) available for club sessions, runs two club sessions a week, offers coaching, and has three teams playing in the local Mendip league

2. Sustaining a new and developing club throughout the Covid pandemic (involving lots of additional tasks such as risk assessment and ensuring safety precautions are followed in practice) and then building on from this over the past year to ensure that Frome has a thriving and successful table tennis club

3. Encouraging adult players of all ages to take up the sport of table tennis, both as league and leisure players. One of the great strengths of the club is the way in which it welcomes all players of all abilities and creates a friendly supportive environment. Jo is particularly good at encouraging and promoting the involvement female players, who are under-presented in the league and in the sport generally.

4. Entering three new teams into the Mendip Table tennis League. This has given club players (many of whom have never played at competetive league level before) the opportunity to develop theirconfidence and abilities. It has also ensured that the local league is thriving continues to grow and thrive

Bowie Tong – Nominated by Harry Au

Bowie is the development officer and one of the founding committee members of our Social Group (Altrincham Table Tennis Social Group). Over the past 12 months, Bowie has contributed more than 100+ volunteering hours and delivered more than 40 sessions. Being passionate in youth development, Bowie took the initiative in leading the Junior session on top of assisting our regular social table tennis session. The impact that Bowie brought to the community is significant and profound, laying the foundation and structure for the table tennis session given her extensive experience in organising table tennis practice sessions in Hong Kong when she was practicing as a coach. Our social group is a non-profit organisation and due to the limited resource, we rely on the volunteer’s contribution and Bowie has long been the most supportive member and volunteer for the social group. With her help, we successfully delivered more than 40 table tennis sessions that cater for different levels and background (regardless of gender, age and nationality).

For details of our social session and junior session that Bowie leads on, please refer to our website.

Apart from supporting the routine administrative work of the committee and social group, Bowie contributed her time and enormous effort in designing and organising Junior session for the social group. With the session specifically catering for the youth, not only the kids are able to be more skilful in table tennis, but only make friends with other kids with different ethnic background. Majority of our members (~50%) is originated from Hong Kong and emigrated to the UK recently. Bowie’s effort in sustaining the social session and creation of the junior session provided more opportunities for Hong Kongers to interact with the local players and engage with the community. She definitely deserves a huge ‘thank you’ for getting us through the tough period of time, especially for the first few months after immigrating to the UK

Inspirational Story of the Year

Amanda Worne – Nominated by Pedro Santos

Amanda has an extraordinary life story, one of tremendous resilience and an inspiration to any disabled and non-disabled alike. Amanda was a fundraiser, marathon runner and trainee PE teacher, until a motorbike accident left her in a wheelchair. She spent 2 years in Stoke Mandeville Hospital recovering from a spinal injury, where she found Table Tennis. She said it was the only sport she found therapeutical at the time, where she could release all her frustration and anger, but that also, she could play levelled with an able-bodied. This meant the world to her!

At the Spinal Injury Games, one of the National coaches spotted her and suggested that she should try and compete. At the time, Amanda didn’t have any clubs near her home in Yapton so she didn’t pursue it. She decided to follow politics instead and became the very first Adur Council Chairman in a wheelchair! In her politics, she does a lot of work to make life more accessible to disabled, as well as promoting disability awareness to the general public.

Last year, Worthing TTC was founded and she discovered it through a friend who brought up the Table Tennis “bug” in her again. The club already had another wheelchair player who had some playing experience and although they didn’t meet the first times she attended the sessions, she felt she was made very welcome and supported to learn how to play properly and compete by all the coaches and players involved. Once they met, they arranged to come to training together.

Amanda was determined to improve and it was clear when she was ready to enter the Worthing & District League only after a few months. She found in Table Tennis something she’s struggling to find in politics… a method to help other people and feel emotionally rewarded. She started volunteering at the club’s AccessibleTT Session (disabilities only group) and very quickly witnessed the power the sport has in building someone confidence, self-esteem, create friendships and general life-skills. She decided she wanted not only to play, but to start helping the club.

She qualified as a Level 1 Coach in April 2022, became Worthing TTC’s Lead Safeguarding & Disability Officer, attended as a coach at the National Junior Games 2022 and Spinal Injury Games 2022 in Stoke Mandeville, all this whilst focusing on her training. She attended the Summer British Para Table Tennis training camp and impressed. She was again invited to come in to Sheffield. Amanda is 52 years old, started seriously in Table Tennis at age 51 and aims to integrate the Team GB Para Squads in the next couple years. She is determined, passionate, a joy of a person to be around with, sharing so much positivity… Even with such a tragic story.

Worthing TTC is extremely lucky for having someone like Amanda showing at our doorstep. She has been a huge asset to the club, currently coaching an Under-13 group, a 50+ group, the AccessibleTT session and 2 Special Needs schools. Amanda promotes heavily the sport and how it changed her life, giving her new heights and goals, every time she delivers an assembly. She’s currently looking to doing her Umpiring course in order to help British Para Table Tennis and Table Tennis England to run more accessible events in the South. I’m proud to nominate Amanda for this award as haven’t met anyone recently who deserves it more.

Probably already stated above, but Amanda is a great ambassador for the Para Table Tennis and Inclusivity and Equality. She had her say in venues in Worthing used for Local League purposes to be (or become) more accessible.

She promotes the sport and gives demonstrations by attending school’s assemblies. Amanda took her coaching qualifications in April 2022 and since then has started her coaching career (at 52 years old) at Worthing TTC, running currently 5 sessions (to become 6 in November with the introduction of our Women & Girls Session).

She spends hours volunteering by establishing contacts with local community groups to work with the club. She’s helping structuring the club’s policies, making them even more accessible and inclusive. Amanda is the club’s official Lead Safeguarding & Disability Officer, taking charge of any issues that might arise. It’s incredible to think that Amanda has only been playing since October 2021 (and a bit in Stoke Mandeville).

The playing skill level and general contribution factor is something that takes to same people years to achieve… And she’s 52 years old! For all the reasons stated above, the age factor, the passion she delivers to the sport, the contribution she makes to the Table Tennis in Worthing and Sussex, she is a strong candidate to be honoured with this award.

League of the Year

Heathrow Junior League – nominated by Luke Miller

The Heathrow Junior League (HJL) has provided all of our junior members with the incredible opportunity to take part in their first ever league. With a broad spectrum of player abilities at our table tennis centre, from first time holding a bat to NJL/NCL participates, we have felt truly privileged to have the opportunity to participate in a league which can accommodate all our player abilities.

We have seen an immediate impact on the engagement and improvement of our players during our own coaching sessions, as a result of participation in the league. Their involvement has also provided greater self confidence in their abilities from being able to play with similar ability players from other local clubs.

We have seen this especially with one of our players, who struggled to win any matches for the whole of last season due to getting anxious before matches, even during coaching sessions. Through participation in the HJL which offers a fun and enjoyable experience within a safe and welcoming environment he has continually wanted to improve his skills and technique in order to win his first match. So far he has a 100% win rate this season and helped his team mates to progress from the bottom division (6) to division 4 in just 2 fixtures.

Mark Roper and the team that oversee and run the Heathrow Junior League (HJL) have achieved the successful set-up and running of a league which has truly opened new doors for our players. In total we have seen over 25 of our junior attendees participate across just 2 seasons.

Following each fixture Mark and the team kindly volunteer their time to collate both team and individual player results and circulate to all teams. The information provided has assisted us immensely with the development of our players. Allowing us to spot trends in our players development, quantify improvements, boost the confidence of our players and provide highlights and discussion points for our coaches to use during coaching sessions.

The HJL has successfully achieved a fun and enjoyable experience within a safe and welcoming environment for all of our players that have participated. It has also contributed dramatically towards the personal development of our players’ self confidence in being able to play to the best of their own personal ability. For this alone, myself and all of our coaches and volunteers are truly grateful and immensely appreciative of everything that Mark and the team have achieved.

Level The Table Award

Juliet Bertie – Nominated by Steve Bertie

Juliet has made a significant impact in relation to the delivery of Table Tennis over the last 12 months in relation to the Level the Table Award.

Please see her contributions below.

Reviewed the level the Table Strategy and provided comments

Supported the Diversity, Inclusions and Volunteer Lead giving advice and guidance

Contributed to the Female Ambassador Programme

Contributed to the Women and Girls Group

Uses her Equality Diversity and Inclusion experience and incorporates it into and MAG work

Uses her Equality Diversity and Inclusion experience and incorporates it into her Birmingham and Solihull District Association work as a committee member

Actively incorporates her Equality Diversity and Inclusion experience and incorporates into Continental Stars Table Tennis to enable more ethnically diverse communities to be involved in the sport.

She volunteers to enable other black females to see her as a role model and this was the reason that encouraged the previous Diversity, Inclusion and Volunteer Lead applied for the role.

The only Black Female on the Members Advisory Group incorporating cultural and lived experience into the discussions at meetings

Encouraged black females to volunteer for the Commonwealth Games roadshows to demonstrate the diversity in the sport.

Enabled the terminology of “Chairman” to be changed and be more inclusive for Birmingham and Solihull Table Tennis Association.

The first black female coach at Continental Stars Table Tennis Club to also be delivering TT Kidz to ethnically diverse group to demonstrate visibility

Sally Hughes – Nominated by Becky House

Sally Hughes has volunteered to organise and run women and girl 1* tournaments as well as helping others to do the same in other areas of England. She has given her time to provide a space where women and girls are not sidelined in the sport. Her actions are significantly contributing to giving the opportunity to and maintaining women and girls to be in the sport and stay in the sport. The tournaments she leads specifically and explicitly promote inclusion. Table tennis is lucky to have an individual who gives their time voluntarily to give to and help the table tennis community grow and she deserves recognition of this.

Sally Hughes has now planned and delivered two women and girls 1* tournaments. The entries from the first tournament to the second tournament have grown significantly. In the tournament at Burgess Hill, she had 60+ entries. This is larger than most most tournaments for women and girls specifically. I played at the tournament and it was very well planned and delivered. Additionally, whilst talking to others there, many of the women preferred female only tournaments due to the vibe, organisation and explicit inclusion. Finding people to volunteer their time to give back to the table tennis community in such a big and impactful way is an incredible rarity. Therefore, I believe Sally Hughes deserves to be awarded with the ‘Levelling the table’ award.

Lifetime Achievement Award

Dennis & Margaret Calver – Nominated by Shaun Parsley

Dennis and Margaret Calver have contributed to club, league, county and national table tennis consistently over the last 50 years.

At a club level they started the Taverham club in the early 1970s. The continues today and still contributes teams into the Norwich League. The club has produced many county players – including Lauren Charles (nee Spink). The club has a club night and a coaching night too – to ensure future stars receive the training that they require. It is truly a fantastic inclusive environment for generations of players.

At league level both Dennis and Margaret served on the committee for over 50 years carrying out virtually every officer role. Margaret was treasurer for 38 years and her prudence means that today the Norwich League is in a healthy state financially. There are many, including myself, who firmly believe that without Dennis and Margaret the league would have folded many years ago. Instead, the league continues to thrive via our inclusivity and willingness to help everybody into our sport.

Dennis and Margaret have served on the county committee for many years also. Again they have guided the county association through tough and great times.

Both Dennis and Margaret trained as umpires. They are both county umpires and have umpired many thousands of county matches, British League ties, and competitions. Dennis went on to pass his national and international umpire exams and officiated accordingly.

It’s funny, wherever I go in the country for table tennis, as soon as I mention that I am from Norfolk the people often ask ‘how are Dennis and Margaret?’ I sincerely hope that my love and thanks to both Dennis and Margaret comes through here. They have been a constant in my table tennis life and I, along with many thousands of others, are indebted to them. We would all be very proud if they were given a lifetime award.

The achievements are from a lifetime perspective and are a snapshot of their actual contribution to table tennis.

Club

They started Taverham club 50 years ago. At its peak, it contributed 12 teams to the Norwich League. It continues to thrive and is an important part of table tennis in Norwich and beyond.

League

Both have held positions of President, Chairman, Treasurer and General Secretary during 50 years of service.

Umpiring and Organising

They have organised and umpired at many tournaments over the decades. They have always supported the junior, senior and veterans county matches too.

Other

They continue as life members of the Norwich League where they offer the committee sage advice on a range of matters based on their vast experience.

Thier list of achievements is nowhere near the level of contribution that Dennis and Margaret have given. Their influence continues now and will continue many years into the future.

Mike Withyman – Nominated by Jos Kelly

I would like to nominate Mike Withyman for a lifetime achievement award because he is truly an unsung hero in the Somerset and Bristol area. He’s in his eighties now and still going strong. Mike has had a huge impact on the lives of young players and nothing is ever too much trouble. He has been running the county championships for years, steering the county committee, a member of the Bristol League committee where he has almost single handedly kept youth development going. He’s been an organiser of NJL and NCL but realised that for a lot of younger and newer players even those events were a step too far so he runs the Bristol Junior League as a feeder event to get youngsters used to competition and it’s been a very successful system.

Mike also runs the County junior team and the Cleeve and Claverham club with junior sessions for beginners at one end and senior teams in the Bristol Prem at the other. He’s been Chairman of the Somerset County association for far longer than I can remember with only a one year break when his wife died. His influence stretches across all the clubs and leagues from the edge of Gloucester to the Devon border. I think it is fair to say no one has done more than Mike for the good of the sport in this area – ever. He is so unassuming his presence gets taken for granted and he’s never had any formal acknowledgement. At his age it’s impossible to know how long he’ll be continuing and I believe he is thoroughly deserving of a lifetime achievement award.

Male Volunteer of the Year

Henry Arthur – Nominated by Chris Haynes

Henry devotes his life to Table Tennis and although some of his work is paid, the areas where Henry has the biggest impact on the sport locally are completely voluntary. As a qualified level three coach Henry is Head Coach at Corby Town Table Tennis Club which he volunteers his time weekly to support the junior membership.

Henry’s contribution to coaching extends to the County Junior Squad too, where he organises the sessions over the season bringing together juniors from across the county for focussed development sessions with a team of coaches from various clubs. The development of juniors is very much a focus for Henry and in ‘one’ of his ‘Committee’ roles he is League development officer for Kettering League.

Henry organises a junior league which is played across 4 weekends over the season. Last year this league attracted over 30 junior players, players that fall below local league level but would like to experience competitive table tennis, getting them ready to progress.

Looking at the wider development of table tennis Henry stepped into the County Committee Chairs position and now leads the county and its 5 local leagues in agreeing ways to help support the leagues and grow participation across the county.

– Development of the Kettering Junior League attracting over 30 new players to competitive table tennis

– Lead role in the Development of the County Junior Squad – organising annual ranking/selection tournaments and regular coaching sessions

– Club Head Coach for Corby Town TTC with responsibilty in developing 15 junior members on a weekly basis

– County Association Chair Person – helping to develop growth strategies for all five of the local leagues in Northamptonshire.

All this is acheived at the same time as working for TTE and for Smash Table Tennis as a paid Coach.

Colin Gower – Nominated by Mark Nicholls

Colin has been inspirational this year in resurrecting Bromley Table Tennis Club following Covid. Covid had a massive impact on our club forcing closure of our venue until October 22. As a result of this extended closure, the club lost significant membership particularly in the junior age group.

Colin has worked tirelessly to resurrect the club whilst also supporting other clubs in the local area. Colin has supported the development of atleast 3 new level one coaches in the area who are all now qualified. Colin has supported the reopening activities for Bromley and runs coaching sessions for all age groups on Thursday evenings and Saturday mornings. The significance of Bromley TTC reopening if further extended into Dudley Table Tennis League who have also been able to re-start after 2 years of closures.

Colin is currently engaging with various social media platforms and council representatives to further advertise the club in the local community. The club is already growing its membership as a direct result of Colins work.

Prior to Bromley reopening, Colin did significant work to help Chris Dunkley establish newly formed “Dudley Table Tennis Club”. Colin has actively attended sessions and provided coaching and encouragement to new members of this club. Dudley table tennis club now has a well established membership which Colin has contributed to massively.

– Re-establishing / Reopening Bromley TTC

– Volunteering coaching at Bromley TTC twice a week

– Supporting new coaches within the local area pass their L1 TTE coaching

– Encouraging others locally to do their level 1 coaching

– Updating clubs safeguarding documentation

– Helping to advertise the club locally using social media platforms and council representatives

– Growing membership of Bromley Table Tennis club by supporting and encouraging new members

– Supporting coaching at Dudley Table Tennis club to help establish this new club within the local area.

Stephen Longmoor – Nominated by James Loring

Steve has played a variety of competitive sports throughout his life, starting as a boy with table tennis in Teesside where he received coaching and sponsorship that lead him to play in the nationals as a youth. The Covid Pandemic lockdowns prompted Steve to want to play table tennis again seriously after a break of 41 years. He could have chosen one of the successful clubs affiliated to the Bristol league but instead choose to stay local and joined N&B’s Table Tennis Club, now the only Premier Club in Weston-super-Mare and celebrating its 10th anniversary since it was started by St Barnabas Church. He says he was drawn to N&B’s because of the friendliness and warmth shown to him when he first came along on 8th July 2021.

Since then, Steve has done much to transform the club by developing our desire to improve the standard of our play without compromising upon the social aspect of our meetings so that we continue to welcome new members with wide ranging abilities. So how has Steve done this? As an experienced sports coach, he started providing informal coaching sessions at our Thursday club night. At the beginning of 2022 he launched free to attend coaching sessions on Tuesdays using this as an opportunity to develop his coaching techniques for the Level One session coach qualification. He has networked with experienced players to improve our coaching aids, maintain equipment and picked up the skills to make up individual bats suitable for a player’s experience and style.

Steve was also instrumental in setting up the club’s website, social media presence and informal gatherings. Working alongside the Club’s Committee and me as Chair, he plays a full role in the running of the club to enthuse its members. With the current suspension of the Weston & District league due to a lack of clubs, Steve has introduced a competitive element to our club nights with a table tennis ladder using handicaps to adjust scores.

In the past month he has completed his Level 2 Lead Coach qualification and become Somerset’s National TTE Councillor. All this demonstrates Steve’s commitment to giving something back to this great sport and its people.

Joined Club Committee on 9th December 2021

Level 1 Session Coach passed on 24th April 2021

Head Coach for Club from 24th April 2022

Level 2 Lead Coach passed on 5th November 2022

Volunteer Mentor to support club member on the Young Ambassador scheme

34 different people participated in a club night with a total of 447 attendances (year to 31st May 2022).

We have a club membership of 24 with an average attendance during September and October of 12 on club nights and 8 for coaching sessions.

8 new member Club Player members for TTE since Steve joined N&B’s Table Tennis Club.

Partner of the Year

Sport in Mind – Nominated by Colin Eley

Table Tennis England’s Ping in the Community project first joined forces with mental health charity Sport in Mind back in 2019 in bid to expand their offering of social table tennis to help aid the recovery of people experiencing mental health problems and combat social isolation. Sport in Mind is the UK’s leading mental health sports charity, with a simple mission: “To improve the lives of people experiencing mental health problems through sport and physical activity”.

Sport in Mind work in partnership with partners such as NHS to provide weekly sport and physical activity programmes to help improve the lives of people experiencing mental health problems and used table tennis to support over 1,000 people, recorded in 2020. Since then, the programme has gone from strength to strength, both in delivery and number of sessions as well as connection with the sports governing body. With us going into 2023 looking at how we work together to grow TTE’s Bat and Chat programme and support a volunteer (new) workforce.

Adding weight to the above, this year 2022, Sport in Mind has delivered over 300 hours of table tennis sessions across 8 different counties – Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, Oxfordshire, Surrey, Hampshire, Devon, London and Sussex. They have 13 weekly Table Tennis sessions that are free for anyone 17+ who is experiencing mental health problems. Sessions set up, have supported over 200 individuals who are struggling with their mental health and used table tennis as a tool to help aid recovery.

Sported – Nominated by Colin Eley

Building on the successful Ping! model, Sported and Table Tennis England (TTE) identified the potential to create a community engagement programme in locations across Birmingham that would drive new levels of community participation, particularly within target audiences of those currently under-represented in table tennis. The duration of this project, up to 18 months, coincided with the lead up to the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games meaning the project set out to form a powerful, inclusive, sustainable legacy programme and a model for replication in other locations across England. Sported suggested the most effective means of engaging at the community level is via ‘hub and spokes’ model. Sported identified a selection of a key group (from the Sported network) with the interest and capacity to be able to lead a community Ping! programme, not just for their own participants, but also to engage other sporting and non-sporting groups in the area.

The characteristics of the hub groups selected meant they are ideal to engage local community participants and under-represented groups TTE aimed to support through Level the Table.

Project will require significant involvement with each hub group resulting in a 6-month programme of direct support for each hub, through which groups:

received the necessary training from Sported and TTE.
received equipment accessing further TTE delivery support as required.
outreach to other groups in the area in collaboration with Sported
build a plan for sustainable usage and growth via Sported’s capacity support.
Sported identified;
3 locations across Birmingham to engage new and develop existing TT players with the sport in a sustainable and contextually appropriate way
Enabled ‘hub’ Sported groups to build their capacity around the sport and support ‘spoke’ groups local to them to engage with the game

First Hub Selected and Delivering – Pitch2Progress (P2P)

Pitch2Progress is a CIC set up in early 2020 who took on a Community Asset Transfer from the Birmingham City Council (BCC) of old playing fields that was derelict and used for criminal activity and BCC wanted the area cleaned up as did the local community.

Sported supported P2P to secure funding from PCC and Heart of England Community Fund to secure their new centre with shutters and security cameras.

THE HUB: P2P set up their Hub in June 2021, hosting a number of tournaments over the summer, using their 2 tables outside every day during August to engage local people. Between 20 & 40 young people played every day enjoying the new challenge, increasing skills and realising the fitness and fun It brought. They had up to 20-40 young people a day playing during the summer. Since the summer they have established 2 sessions a week, one for girls the other for boys.

THE SPOKES: 4 Spokes were developed between June and September being;

a) Saltley Women’s FC – the girls use table tennis to warm themselves up before their matches on a Sunday.

b) Green Lane Mosque – a local mosque providing regular sessions to more than 40 young people.

c) Birmingham Muslim Foundation – They are now hosting one session a week for these young people at the Hub because they don’t have a big enough facility to do it on site.

d) Saltley School – Has recently set up one night a week and are already seeing numbers growing.

NUMBERS/DEMOGRAPHICS: The Hub and Spokes currently have 111 players registered broken down as follows;

P2P Hub – 48
Birmingham Muslim Foundation – 11
Green Lane Mosque – 13
Saltley Academy – 7 (only recently started)
Saltley Women and Girls – 33

Ethnicity: The ethnic mix is wide with Bangladeshi, Indian, Black, African, Caribbean and others ethnic groups too. The largest ethnic group is Pakistani at 57.

Gender: They have 32 females and 79 males playing.

Age groups:

11-16 year olds = 78
17-19 year olds = 14
20-26 year olds = 19

Location: Players live in a range of local areas including Saltley, Acock’s Green, Alumn Rock, Sparkbrook, Nechelles, Ward End, Small Health, Yardley, Bordesley Green – all of these areas are in the bottom 10% of IMD within England, this includes income, education, health, living environment and crime.

BARRIERS: The Hub have found it hard to find the right partners to work with and some potential Spokes have started but then stopped. Funding is always the main issue for young people from disadvantaged communities and this, so far, has been free of charge during the summer months and currently. In addition, parental consent for U16 year olds has been a challenge.

Therefore, Obayed (the group leader) has now decided in order to continue to fund his causal staff who run the sessions, he will need to ask those playing to pay £1 a session. He will test to see if it can be done whilst also applying to other local and national funders.

Given their lack of experience in this area, Sported plans to place a volunteer to help with these applications and considering other sources of alternative income.

School of the Year

Archbishop of Cranmer CE Primary School – Nominated by Chris Turner

I would like to nominate Archbishop Cranmer C of E Primary School (ABC) for School of the Year. The school are sold by table tennis and the impact the game can have on their pupils. Table Tennis features on the school PE curriculum for all Key Stage 2 children (120 children) and run two after school clubs (Mondays Yrs 2&3 and Thursdays Yrs 4&5) as well as a morning breakfast club for developing players. Each session attracts 16 children.

In Nottingham we operate a very successful Junior League which acts as an entry level event. 12 children from the school, more than any other school, have entered the league this year due to the support of the head teacher in promoting the league and collecting entry forms on our behalf. What’s more, the head teacher came along to the event, on a Saturday afternoon to support her pupils. This dedication further demonstrates the school’s commitment to the game.

Recently, the coach provided by the club has been unable to attend due to long term illness but such is the value the school place on table tennis and the impact the game has on wider pupil learning the head as well as staff members have continued the club going.

Table Tennis part of the KS2 curriculum for 120 children.

Three extra curricular clubs per week catering for over 30 children

Partnering with the Nottingham Junior League to provide children an opportunity to compete and will be entering English Schools County Event. 12 children from the school play in the Nottingham Junior League and this number will continue to grow. This is more than any other primary school in the county.

Strong partnership with Nottingham Table Tennis Club

St Johns C of E Primary School – Nominated by Alastair Williams

St John’s Primary School passion for table tennis started back in 2016 when the school purchased two outdoor table tennis tables for the children to use primarily at break and lunch times, and during before and after school clubs which they ran. Children from across the school age groups would support one another playing ‘king’ with members of staff regularly joining in and encouraging new children to participate. As a school with only a 45-pupil yearly intake and a total of 315 children from Year R right up to Year 6 its amazing to see around 30+ children play each day.

The school aims to provide a wide range of opportunities for the children to become involved in table tennis which is a great way to teach young children active skills, table tennis helps children build confidence, develop social skills and their health & well being improves.

Playing table tennis encourages positive social skills and helps children to recognise the importance of working as a team, respecting others and what it means to be competitive. Table tennis is about participation as opposed to individual learning, developing a child’s competitiveness while teaching them to both win and lose gracefully can help them tackle obstacles and accept the setbacks that life will naturally present later on. Furthermore, table tennis can help to install a positive attitude to physical exercise that can sow the seed for good habits in later life.

Having achieved some success at both local and County level the school purchased their first full sized indoor table in 2019, this was closely followed by a second at the start of 2020, with a third being donated by a local company which was closing. These investments gave the children opportunity to practice on full sized tables, practice before/after school when the weather did not allow for the outdoor tables to be used and provided much needed additional capacity for the growing interest in Table Tennis.

For the past 6 years the school has taken advantage of all schools table tennis opportunities, entering large numbers of boys and girls (also focusing on engaging children who don’t tend to participate in sports) into the Basingstoke Schools qualifiers, multiple boys and girls teams into the Basingstoke Schools qualifiers as well as extending opportunities for the children to practice before and after school leading up to competitions.

The school incorporates Table Tennis in its curriculum delivering PE lessons using the TT Kidz for Schools programme. Pupils are provided leadership opportunities including learning how to score and umpire table tennis matches which is encouraged at local/county level and becomes a requirement at the National Schools Zonal finals.

The school has established links with the local Aldworth Table Tennis Club in Basingstoke and signposts interested children to them with several children now attending on a regular basis.

Lastly, we regularly see ex-St John’s pupils go on to compete for their secondary school at local level, county level, zone finals in London and at national level.

In November 2017 the boys U11 team was crowned Hampshire County champions progressing to its first Zone Final in London.

In January 2018 the Boys U11 team competed in the Zone Final in London representing Hampshire, where they progressed to the semi-finals.

In November 2018 both the boys U11 team was crowned Hampshire County champions progressing to the Zone final in London.

In January 2019 the Boys U11 team competed in the Zone Final in London representing Hampshire, where they progressed to the semi-finals.

In December 2019 both the boys and girls U11 teams were crowned Hampshire County champions progressing to the Zone final in London.

In January 2020 both the boys and girls U11 team competed in the Zone Final in London representing Hampshire, where the girls team progressed to the semi-finals.

In early 2020 the individual U11 Boy and Girl were crowned Hampshire County champions and were due to progress to the National Table Tennis Championship in Wolverhampton, unfortunately due to Covid the event was cancelled and the children did not get to complete.

St John’s Primary School were the Year 3 and 4 National Champions, and second place in Year 5 and 6, in the TT Kidz Virtual Schools Championship in September 2021.

In December 2021 both the boys and girls U11 teams were crowned Hampshire County champions progressing to the Zone final in London.

In January 2022 both the boys and girls U11 team competed in the Zone Final in London representing Hampshire, where the girls team progressed to the semi-finals.

In March 2022 the individual U11 Boy and Girl were crowned Hampshire County champions and progressed to the National Table Tennis Championship in Wolverhampton

In December 2022 both the boys and girls U11 teams were crowned Hampshire County champions progressing to the zone final in London in January 2023.

Technical Official of the Year

Dan Bullen (multiple nominations)

Nominated by Karen Tonge OBE: Dan has been brilliant over the last 12 months training to umpire at CGames22; qualified as referee and run competitions; completed Tournament Organiser course. Organised British Para events and St Neots 2 to 4 sta. Encouraged younger umpires especially on their journey to Birmingham22 The fact that he is a wheelchair user makes him inspirational and is often the link between older and younger umpires at events. We needmore Dan Bullens

Nominated by Brian Jackson: Dan has been volunteering as an umpire and tournament organiser for many events this season – Umpire at JBL, WBL Senior National Championships, and many more.

Tournament organiser for the International childrens Games, European Transplant Games, St. Neots Junior 4 star, Cliffedale Chandlers junior 4 star and is going to be Tournament organiser/Field of play at the Senior Nationals Qualifier.

Dan is an active member of the Technical Officials Committee, and is involved in various committees for his club (St.Neots), British Para Table Tennis and more recently BUCS.

He is an inspiration to all who meet him, his drive and enthusiasm is infectious

Dan has passed the L1 referee exam and the International Umpire L3 exam this year and was selected to be one of the umpires at the Commonwealth games in Birmingham – he stood down as an umpire when he was selected to play for England at the Commonwealth Games.

Sheila Walshe – Nominated by Jackie O’Shea

Sheila Walshe has never played table tennis, so has no experience regarding playing.

She has just qualified as an international umpire, which is wonderful. Sheila is my mentor since i have qualified, she is always willing to give me positive feedback and time to answer any questions i might have, as well as being such a kind, caring and wonderful person.

Sheila umpired at the commonwealth games in Birmingham this year as well.

I just think considering Sheila has never played table tennis that she should be recognised for her amazing achievements.

I have never heard of any other umpires may be in the world who has never played tabble tennis yet has qualified as an international umpire and is so highly recognised by fellow umpires.

Sheila Walshe has never played table tennis, so has no experience regarding playing.

Sheila umpired at the commonwealth games in Birmingham this year as well.

I just think considering Sheila has never played table tennis that she should be recognised for her amazing achievements.

I have never heard of any other umpires may be in the world who has never played tabble tennis yet has qualified as an international umpire and is so highly recognised by fellow umpires.

Young Female Volunteer of the Year

Mia Solomon – Nominated by Henry Arthur

Mia started her volunteer/coaching journey prior to Covid by becoming a TTKidz Activator and the Junior Representative on the club committee. Once we could return to play after the lockdowns, Mia started assisting at our junior coaching sessions and is now a Level 1 qualified coach. She assists on an almost weekly basis with these sessions and it has been really beneficial to the club as we have 6 young girls that attend and they really love having Mia working with them.

The club are planning to run a women and girls social session from January 2023 with Mia being the lead on this and has been key to pushing for the club committee to make this happen.

Mia has also stepped into the role of team captain for the first time this season, leading the only all female team of players in the local Kettering League.

Finally, Mia assists at the Northants County Junior Squad Coaching sessions having been part of the playing squad for the last few seasons. Again her assistance with the female players is greatly valued by both the players and the coaches.

Mia also attends the League committee meetings as a representative of Corby Town TTC

Mia’s biggest personal table tennis achievement in the last 12 months has been to pass the L1 coaching course. Mia was very proud to have passed this and you could see the confidence in herself grow once she had achieved this qualification. Mia had been going through a difficult spell personally following the loss of her mother the year before at a young age due to cancer and so it was a real achievement for her to become a recognised and qualified coach.

Her contributions as a team captain, club committee member and coach have been invaluable to the club to be able to continue to run as smooth as it does. Her support of the Head Coach (myself) at sessions, support for the Chair at Committee meetings, and support and organisation of her team for local league matches have not gone unrecognised and she has grown into these roles considerably over the last 12 months. She is of real value to the club, the league and the County and to table tennis as a whole.

As an aside to all this. Mia started her table tennis journey aged about 13 in a satellite club that Corby Town TTC ran at the local secondary school so she has been a real success story of the satellite club programme.

Young Male Volunteer of the Year

Tom Scard – Nominated by Richard Penny

Tom has been leading a Junior Section on behalf of Salisbury Table Tennis Association for a number of years now, despite being only a young man himself. He has grown a Junior player base from zero to >12 prior to the COVID pandemic and then had to rebuild after covid with a new cohort of Junior players.

This season he has over 15 Juniors practicing regularly and has entered two full Junior teams into the local Salisbury League – a first in the Salisbury League’s 91 year history! Tom acts as a non-playing captain for both Junior teams, as well as coach, liaison with parents and is also a Secretary on the committee for Salisbury Table Tennis. He is an amazing supporter of Table Tennis in the Salisbury area and has a maturity and determination beyond his years.

Tom volunteers to run a weekly coaching/practice session every Sunday evening, come rain or shine

Tom has built a Junior player base such that we now have ~20% of all players registered in Salisbury being Juniors.

Tom acts as non-playing captain of both Junior teams, as well as captaining his own team in Salisbury League and another team in the Blackmore Vale league.

Tom has the current mens U18 in Wiltshire playing for his club and has supported his coaching to enable him to provide coaching for our Junior cohort. He also has helped to develop another Junior female player who is No.2 in Wiltshire for her age group.

Tom also acts as Secretary of the Salisbury League and us a fine committee member.

Tom ran a friendly Summer League competition for over 50 players throughout June, July and August and attracted players who previously had dropped out of competitive TT.

All of this from a young man who is still U25 !

We are very fortunate to have someone like this involved in grass roots Table Tennis and I believe he should be recognised for such selfless support of Table Tennis and in particular for development of our Junior players.

Nicholas Walker – Nominated by Barry Hook

Nicholas joined the TTE young ambassador scheme in September and has been mentored by Banbury Head Coach Eddie Roofe and league development officer Eric Barlow. He’s now logged 60 voluntary hours supporting league, school and club coaching activities in the Banbury area :

Banbury National Cadet League (NCL) team captain

Coach Eddie Roofe’s assistant at his own school The Warriner (Bloxham), supporting the after school club. Has organized tournaments during school sessions

Shutford is only a small village in North Oxfordshire and this club started just over a year ago with less than a handful of ‘players’. It is now thriving with 25 members including a recently formed junior section with ~10 players. Nicholas has provided invaluable club development support, assisting myself at both junior and ‘adult learn to play’ coaching sections. When required Nicholas has on his own run ‘coaching sessions’ for the adults and is now highly regarded by club members.

Nicholas’s first involvement with table tennis was year 5 at Bishop Carpenter primary school North Newington, attending the after school club with myself as coach. Some ‘bumpy’ first few years but he nevertheless was always at practice and as others have dropped out, has remained ever present. Has played for Banbury NCL and local league teams and this season is leading the newly formed Shutford team in the Banbury league. We are proud of what Nicholas has achieved and is a great is example of how table tennis has for the better, helped develop a young persons character.

Following completion of his GCSE’s Nicholas is now of age and wants to further progress from the YA scheme, helping other people by becoming a ‘proper coach’. He’s just signed up for a UKCC level 1 course. We want him to continue the good work at Shutford but also supporting Eddie Roofe with a new project at our BGN Academy, focusing on developing a squad of local primary school kids.