Former England youth international Darcie Proud has been shortlisted as RAF Sportswoman of the Year after a series of table tennis achievements.

Darcie, who represented England at a series of events as a teenager, including the 2018 European Youth Championships, now has the rank of Air Specialist 1 at RAF Digby 591 unit. She has been serving for more than two years.

But she is still very active in table tennis and has clocked up a number of achievements, including becoming the first ever female winner of the RAF Festival.

She won both the women’s singles and mixed doubles at the RAF Championships, and the same two events at the Inter-Service Championships.

She is also the head coach of the RAF team, having taken her Level 1 qualification. The service offers a lot of opportunities for play, including trips each year to Hungary and Washington, alongside monthly training camps for both experienced players and beginners.

“The unit fully support my sporting achievements and any training that I do,” said Darcie. “I recently held a women’s-only table tennis camp which was open to the RAF, Navy and Army where women who either have played before or are new to the sport came down and enjoyed a few days’ training and learning the sport, encouraging more women to get involved in table tennis in the military.
“My Unit Warrant Officer (UWO) at 591 allows me to go off and play table tennis and do physical training whenever I need to and he also helps me with the mentality side of the sport, which then helps with work and balancing both work and sport together.

“The RAF table tennis team and committee have been the biggest advocate in supporting my career in table tennis. They encourage me to go for all the opportunities and training that I can find and push me further to enhance my ability and keep my level high for when I’m competing.

“The RAF table tennis team are the best group of people to be around in supporting and encouraging table tennis and sport – if anything I’ve played more table tennis whilst being in the RAF than before.

“The team and committee put so much time and effort into getting support and opportunities for all the team so that we can continue doing what we love whilst enjoying it.

“The RAF team are at a very high standard and we have put a team into Senior British Clubs League. We are currently looking for more table tennis people in the RAF and also in the civvy world to show them all the help with sport and experiences we get from being in the RAF.”

The awards ceremony takes place on Friday and Darcie is up against women from Brazilian jiu-jitsu and waterskiing/wakeboarding.