National Volunteer and Coach Awards

Table Tennis Australia Volunteer & Coach of the Year Awards

Volunteers are the lifeblood of grassroots sport, and table tennis activity wouldn’t be possible without the diligent work of our volunteers – the passionate army of officials, administrators, parents, fundraisers and supporters who seek to mobilise and advance the game every day. TTA is happy to announce that this year, we will also be presenting the National Coach of the Year Awards and hence invite clubs/associations and State/Territory associations to help acknowledge and celebrate their outstanding contributions by nominating coaches who ensure table tennis is fun, safe, welcoming and played in the best spirit and highest standard possible across the country.

These national awards provide a tangible way for TTA and the table tennis community to recognise and commend the remarkable achievements of those people making a significant and genuine contribution to the sport.

Table Tennis Australia (TTA) is pleased to announce an important change to its National Volunteer and Coaches Awards program, designed to strengthen recognition of service at all levels of the sport and to better align the National Awards with State/Territory volunteer award programs.

Key Changes

State-Level Winners to Become National Finalists
Going forward, winners from each State or Territory award ceremony will automatically be finalists in the TTA National Volunteer Awards. This new “flow-up” model ensures that outstanding contributions are first recognised locally and then celebrated nationally.
For States/Territories Without Their Own Award Ceremonies
TTA will work with those State/Territory associations who do not currently run formal volunteer awards, to collate nominations. These nominations will be considered directly for the National Awards, so that volunteers from every region have an opportunity to be recognised.

The aim of this initiativeand its many benefits, is to more deeply recognise volunteersat the state level, ensuring they are celebrated in their own communities, while also creating a transparent and meaningful pathway to national honours. Moreover, this approach embraces inclusivity across the nation, with every State and Territory, regardless of whether they currently host award ceremonies or not, having the opportunity to nominate volunteers for national honour.

“Volunteers are the backbone of table tennis in Australia,” said Aaron Tuckfield, General Manager, Operations and Community. “By introducing this flow-up model we reaffirm our commitment to recognising outstanding contributions from grassroots to national levels. Volunteers from all States and Territories deserve to be celebrated — and this new structure makes sure that happens.”

The National Volunteer and Coaches Awards recognise exceptional individuals—officials, administrators, parents, coaches, supporters—who contribute tremendous time, energy and passion to our sport. Past awards include categories such as Volunteer of the Year; Official of the Year; Coach of the Year, Club/Association of the Year; and long-service awards for 25 and 50 years of service.

This new structure will apply for the 2025 Awards Season

National Volunteer Awards Program Categories

Fran Keyhoe Official of the Year
Administrator of the Year
Club/Association of the Year
25 Years of Service Award
50 Years of Service Award

Bev and Brian James Trophy - National Volunteer of the Year Award

An overall 'Volunteer of the Year' will be chosen from the winners of the above six individual categories, which is the highest honour that can be bestowed upon an Australian table tennis volunteer. The recipient will be awarded the Bev and Brian James Trophy. Dave Delpratt (QLD), Vanessa Paulsen (QLD), Rosanna Horn (ACT), Greg Bungey (SA), Mick Coughlan (QLD), Marie Pinkeiwch (NSW) and Les Dawson (VIC) are our past winners of this award in 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023 and 2024 respectively.

National Table Tennis Coach Awards categories

High Performance Coach of the Year
Community Coach of the Year

Why nominate?

Recognise, thank and appreciate your coaches and local volunteers and share their positive success stories
Raise public awareness about your club/association's or State/Territories great people and achievements
Be acknowledged as a leader in the community
Category winners will be announced and streamed on the TTA social media platform

Nomination Guidelines, Eligibility and Criteria

Please read these documents before submitting a nomination.

Submitting Nominations

Nominations are only called for form clubs or individuals that live in a state or territory that do not run their own awards recognition program. In all other cases, the State/Territory body will submit their respective winners to TTA who will then be considered for the national awards. TTA looks forward to hearing abour all the exceptional coaching and volunteering activity being undertaken across Australia, by the many talented and enthusiastic people serving our game.

If you are from a State/Territory that does not run their own awrads progam, and have someone you'd like to nominate, download and email the nomination form to aaron@tabletennis.org.au.

Closing Date for Nominations

Nominations are only called for from clubs or individuals that live in a state or territory that does not run its own awards recognition program. In these cases, nominations will close at 5pm (AEST) Friday 19 December 2025.

Enquiries

For more information, please email Aaron Tuckfield, General Manager - Operations & Community at aaron@tabletennis.org.au or contact 0448 311 622.