The winner of the Club Coach of the Year award has been announced..
Coaching talent and commitment has been recognised across the State with... [ DRUM-ROLL...] Brisbane's Kim Hammermeister named as the winner.
Kim Hammermeister has singlehandedly run a Special Olympics Table Tennis group at Brisbane Table Tennis Association for 10 years as a volunteer. In fact, Kim has been involved with Special Olympics Qld for over 20 years and is committed to offering sporting opportunities to people with an Intellectual Disability to improving their lives.
This group has allowed many participants with special needs to participate in the sport.
Beyond her weekly coaching of this group, Kim was the driving force behind the development of interclub special needs events, which have been held at Brisbane, Bundaberg and Gold Coast in recent years.
This has led to the inclusion of table tennis as a component sport in the SpecialOlympics Australian national games, a development which again Kim was a key proponent.
In 2020, Kim arranged for Totally Wild (Channel 10 children’s show) to film at BTTA with her special needs group showing to the wider Australian community that table tennis is truly welcoming to everyone.
Beyond her table tennis involvement, Kim also runs other social events for Special Olympics members to help them to have positive social outlets in their lives.
In addition, she always organises a card and cake whenever one of her group has a birthday (out of her own pocket), making them all feel part of a special community.
Kim is a person who gives a lot of herself to both her group and the sport of table tennis never expecting anything in return. Her contribution to table tennis both atBTTA and in Queensland is an amazing achievement.
Kim trains on Wednesdays throughout the year at the Brisbane Table Tennis centre from 3 pm till 4:30 pm - if you have any queries don't hesitate to contact her on 32898225 or email hammer01@aapt.net .au