How volunteering has been pivotal to Aled-Rhys Howell and his table tennis journey
Now a Table Tennis Wales Board Member, Aled-Rhys Howell started his table tennis journey as a 10-year-old playing on his kitchen table.
Soon after, he joined Llanelli TTC and fell in love with the sport after playing in a club competition in his third week of membership. And it wasn’t long until Aled-Rhys started competing for his country, just a few weeks later attending an assessment day hosted by Table Tennis Wales.
From there on in, Aled-Rhys became very busy, representing both national and local sides. As well as playing for Swansea and Bridgend in the Team Championships of Wales, and Glamorgan in the British County Championships, he donned a Welsh shirt throughout the age categories and at senior level.
As well as his playing journey, volunteering in table tennis has been key to Aled-Rhys’ lifelong enjoyment of the sport.
He has coached regionally in West Wales, increasing participation in Swansea, Llanelli and Carmarthen courtesy of school programmes which saw players progress to club and regional sessions.
Building a player pathway in the region, a high number of these players went on to represent Wales and become Welsh Champions; one of these being Table Tennis Wales only ever Olympian, Anna Hursey.
Aled-Rhys has also coached Welsh sides all over Europe, from the Junior to the Senior European Championships, and has even volunteered as Team Lead for the World University Games in both Taiwan and Italy.
“Some highlights of my volunteering have been seeing those that are new to the sport falling in love with it,” Aled-Rhys told us.
“With coaching, you can see small wins very quickly, and you get the sense of accomplishments on the individuals’ faces.
“It’s also amazing to see those excelling on the world stage after all the commitment and effort they’ve given to the sport.”
Volunteers like Aled-Rhus ensure that the sport we love continues to thrive, driving participation throughout local communities in Wales as well as giving Welsh athletes the opportunities to shine on the world stage.
“The sport doesn’t happen without volunteers,” he explained. “They are the heartbeat of the sport and make things happen at all levels.
“There are many ways in which you can volunteer that can make a significant impact to the individual, a club, the community and the sport in general.
“Those little wins can give you a sense of pride in the fact you’ve supported in achieving some great things. If you were to look at the accomplishments within Table Tennis Wales, so many have come down to the amazing work of various volunteers.”