Today we launch our search for the unsung heroes who go the extra mile to make our sport great.

The annual Pride of Table Tennis Awards seeks to honour the volunteers, officials, coaches and personalities who are the heartbeat of the sport around the country.

They will recognise individuals and organisations who are committed to developing and improving participation and performance in table tennis.

That might be through breaking down barriers of inclusivity, promoting diversity or nurturing talented youngsters, or positively impacting on people’s lives through table tennis in any other way.

There are two stages to the Pride of Table Tennis Awards:

Stage 1: Club Volunteer of the Year – nominate the volunteer at your club who most deserves to have their contribution recognised, no matter what role they fulfil. All nominees will receive Table Tennis England recognition and a certificate.

Stage 2: Pride of Table Tennis regional and national awards. All Club Volunteer of the Year nominees will be in contention to win a Regional Award, with all Regional Award winners going forward to the Pride of Table Tennis National Awards. Clubs can also nominate additional volunteers at this stage and if you would like to nominate someone, who is not connected to a club, this is the stage to do this at. You can nominate into the following categories:

• Volunteer of the Year (25 or over)
• Young Volunteer of the Year (under 25)
• Club of the Year
• Inclusivity Award
• Coach of the Year
• Technical Official of the Year
• Contribution to Table Tennis

The overall national winners will be revealed at an awards ceremony during the PG Mutual National Championships on Saturday March 4, 2017.

Table Tennis England Head of Workforce, Greg Yarnall, said:

“It is with great excitement that we are launching the Pride of Table Tennis Awards, which will help the sport recognise the amazing work that is carried out by our volunteers across the country.

“The Pride of Table Tennis Awards will start at club level with clubs selecting their own Club Volunteer of the Year, helping clubs to recognise the contributions of their own volunteers.

“The awards will also have an open nomination process, with regional and national winners then selected from each category with all national winners being presented at the PG Mutual National Championships in March.

“We want to show just how much we value our volunteers – our sport simply would not function without them.”

In addition, we are asking for nominations for two of our Honours Awards – the Leslie Forrest Memorial Trophy and the Maurice Goldstein Memorial Award – which honour those who have made an outstanding contribution in the area of county table tennis.

Nominations for the Leslie Forrest Memorial Trophy will be automatically included in the Volunteer of the Year nominations, and those for the Maurice Goldstein Memorial Award will be considered for the Contribution to Table Tennis honour.

For more information and to nominate your unsung heroes, click here.