Portishead Table Tennis Club welfare officer, Steve Pratt, has been appointed as one of 12 new national advisors to help take the English sport forward. The newly created Table Tennis England Members’ Advisory Group (MAG) will offer strategic advice to the board, as well as providing a communication channel for the wider table tennis community.
Launching MAG was a key recommendation from an independent review panel set up to look at Table Tennis England’s governance. 
MAG members – appointed following an exhaustive round of national interviews – represent all areas of the sport including coaching, technical officials, competitions, clubs, leagues, counties and schools, as well as six ‘player’ roles.
The group will meet for the first time during the Table Tennis England national conference in Leicester on March 30-31.
Table Tennis England chairman, Sandra Deaton, said: “MAG is an important addition to our sport’s governance and I’m pleased to see a diverse group of people selected to represent our members. I’m confident they will work constructively and creatively and play a key role in driving our sport forwards.”
Steve, who has played for the Portishead club since 1987, said: “I am delighted to have been selected and to take the opportunity to represent Portishead Table Tennis Club on the national stage. There are many volunteers within the sport and within our club. This is a chance to give something back whilst helping to advance table tennis within the Bristol and Weston areas and helping to develop our club even further.
A veteran of the sport, Steve first started playing competitively in the Kettering and District League in the early 60s when he joined Rothborough Table Tennis Club. He currently plays for the Portishead Anchors team in the Bristol League Division 3.
His appointment comes just a couple weeks after Portishead was named as the Pride of Table Tennis South West Region Club of the Year.