Do you know a local hero of the sport who could follow in the footsteps of our Volunteer of the Year Pat Johnson?

Our annual Pride of Table Tennis Awards opened for nominations last week and over the next couple of months, we will be looking back at previous winners and sharing the incredible contributions our volunteers make to table tennis up and down the country.

Perhaps you know someone like Pat, who picked up the prestigious ‘Volunteer of the Year’ of the year award in March, receiving the accolade on Finals Day at the Mark Bates Ltd National Championships.

The award recognises a person over 25 years of age for their dedication, commitment or impact in table tennis on a voluntary basis over the past 12 months. This may take place at a club, local community, league, county, schools county, regional or national level.

Pat was nominated for her integral role at Bishop Auckland Table Tennis Club, volunteering countless hours to support the Ping Pong Parlours in Durham, running weekly women and girls, bat and chat and over-50s sessions and also helping with club coaching sessions.

Pat is a huge advocate for health benefits of table tennis, not only physically, but also the positive impact it can have on mental health.

Through her passion and enthusiasm for table tennis, she was selected as a Table Tennis England Female Ambassador, a programme which seeks to engage more women and girls into table tennis.

National Delivery Lead Jenny Leach, said: “Pat is incredibly passionate about table tennis and is a great role model for a wide range of people.

“It is clear she wants everyone to experience a sport which has added such value to her life; her involvement and all that she does as a volunteer in the sport is credit to that.”

At the presentation ceremony at the Nationals in Nottingham, Pat said: “It was an absolute honour. Table tennis has been my passion since I was a youngster and I just hope my enthusiasm and commitment can empower women, girls – and anyone else on the planet – to take a small step through a club’s door and find out what happens inside and how great it is to play this sport.”

Do you know an inspirational volunteer who is worthy of a Pride of Table Tennis award? If so, now is the time to nominate them!

[button link=”https://tabletennisengland.co.uk/programs/pride-of-table-tennis/pride-of-table-tennis-awards-and-criteria/”]Click here to find out more about the categories or to make a nomination[/button]

Nominations close at 5pm on Friday October 2.

Club and League Volunteer of the Year

We are also asking clubs and leagues all over the country to present their own Club or League Volunteer of the Year and their Young Volunteer of the Year awards to someone who has gone ‘above and beyond’ in the past 12 months.

Everyone who is honoured in this way at local level will receive a certificate from Table Tennis England and will be put forward for the regional and national awards.

Click here to nominate a Volunteer of the Year or Young Volunteer of the Year

This is the second year of the new-look Pride awards, which will run on a two-year cycle co-inciding with National Conferences. Further information on the changes to the awards can be found by clicking here.