There is just a fortnight to go to nominate your Club or League’s local hero for a Pride of Table Tennis Award. Whatever contribution they make, there is no better way to thank the volunteers who put so much into helping people to enjoy our sport.
Nominations start at a local level, with Clubs and Leagues able to award their own local Volunteer of the Year, who will then be put forward for a regional or national award in the most appropriate category.
They may be people like Anne Borrowdale, Development Officer for the Oxford & District Table Tennis League, who was presented with a Pride of Table Tennis Awards League Volunteer of the Year certificate for her outstanding voluntary service developing table tennis for the Oxford league and local community.
Anne said: “I was totally surprised and surprisingly pleased when I found out ODTTA had nominated me for a Pride of Table Tennis League Volunteer of the Year.
“I spend a lot of time, energy and occasional sleepless nights developing social table tennis initiatives in Oxford, and feeling appreciated by my league gave me a warm glow. In fact, it inspired me to keep at it on days this summer when organising Oxford’s new All-Comers summer league all seemed too much.
“It was important that it’s not just a local award, but that Table Tennis England as an organisation appreciates volunteers’ efforts. I’ve talked to various people in other organisations about how it inspired me, and how they recognise what their volunteers do. It’s not why we do it, but being appreciated gives that extra boost of energy to see things through.
“I also felt that the award affirmed the importance of Ping! and social table tennis, which is what I’ve mainly been involved with. Some league players weren’t sure about those initiatives when I started out, but nominating me for an award shows they value that side as well as the traditional league structure.”
Regional categories are Volunteer of the Year, Young Volunteer of the Year, Contribution to Table Tennis, Coach of the Year and Club of the Year. Winners will be selected by a regional judging panel and receive a trophy and certificate. They will also be put forward to the national judging panel.
At a national level, the categories include all those in the regional awards, plus Inclusivity Award, Technical Official of the Year, Ping! Personality of the Year, Partner of the Year, Inspirational Stories of the Year and League of the Year. The national awards will be presented at our awards ceremony in March 2019.