I am Amanda Leonard and I started as the Area Manager (South West) at the beginning of 2024. 

I am excited to be working for Table Tennis England, the sport is powerful in its ability to engage people of all ages and backgrounds. I am learning more and more each day about the sport, its structures and the volunteers who are its backbone. I am committed to supporting volunteers and driven to increase participation, improve the quality of provision and develop projects which further support the player pathway.

I love all sports, the main ones being paddle-boarding and hockey, both of which I coach. Like so many of you, I have worn many volunteer hats in hockey, including setting up a junior section and developing new facilities. Having twins at secondary school has given me a different perspective on sports pathways.

Professionally I have worked as a Community Regeneration Officer supporting voluntary groups to develop plans, projects and gain funding. I’ve worked on sports and other community projects ranging from £5,000 to £2.6 million. Before moving to Cornwall, I ran the sport at Nottingham Trent University and I headed up the Sports Development unit in Nottinghamshire, where I worked closely with National Governing Bodies including table tennis.

I am particularly interested in widening participation of underrepresented groups including Women & Girls. I relish any opportunity to build partnerships aiming to develop and deliver innovative projects which may bring in additional resources as well as producing models of good practice which can be shared throughout the area.

What are your plans for table tennis in your area? I would love to hear about them.

Please get in touch if you feel that I can support you – I am at [email protected]