Table Tennis England, the Sport’s National Governing Body, recently launched a search for the unsung heroes who go the extra mile to make the sport great. The annual Pride of Table Tennis Awards seek to honour the volunteers, officials, coaches and personalities who are the heartbeat of the sport around the country.

The New Milton Club had no hesitation in putting forward its club secretary Bev Scott-Johns for this honour. The club’s citation read: “Bev is not only the General Secretary of the club, but he is also Volunteer Co-ordinator, Match Secretary, Tournament Organiser, Team Captain, Team Player and General Factotum.

Bev is also a Director of the Mudeford Wood Community Trust which looks after the day to day running of the Community Centre which is the club’s main venue for league matches. Bev also sits on the committee of the Bournemouth & District Table Tennis Association to which the New Milton Club is affiliated. Bev is also a qualified County Umpire and Tournament Organiser.

Bev has always worked tirelessly on behalf of the club; this year he sadly lost his wife Valerie on 25th March after a long illness, but he still soldiered on valiantly for the club. The Management Committee tried to scale down his duties but he was having none of it! As usual, he organised the club’s weekly practice nights, the club’s annual individual tournaments and the club’s Annual Summer Pairs Tournament. In addition to captaining a team in the Bournemouth & District league, he played in the Poole Pairs and the Merton Summer Pairs competitions and generally kept a weather eye on the club’s other teams in the various leagues.

Bev continued to be supportive of the club’s activities in the community, including the annual New Milton Rugby Club’s Fun Day, as well as events run at the Mudeford Wood Community Centre.

Bev would under normal circumstances be an obvious contender for Club Volunteer of the Year, but carrying on so selflessly despite losing his wife gives him even higher credentials!”

Table Tennis England duly issued the certificate which was presented to a very surprised but delighted Bev by Club Chair Steve Hemmings at a small ceremony at a recent club night at the Grange School, Somerford.

Bev will now be in contention to win a Regional Award for Volunteer of the Year, with all Regional Award winners going forward to the Pride of Table Tennis National Awards to be announced in March next year.