Table tennis youngster Andrew Green has been selected for a prestigious sporting programme and will follow in the footsteps of Olympians Tom Daley OBE, Hollie Arnold MBE, Jodie Williams, Courtney Tulloch, Morgan Lake, Emma Wilson, and Alex Yee MBE.

It was a chance meeting with a national table tennis champion which inspired 24-year-old Green to take up the sport and he has now been singled out by charity SportsAid as an athlete with the potential to reach the very top.

Unable to take part in an outdoor rugby session, wheelchair athlete Green headed to the table tennis hall at Northfield School & Sports College.

There he met Jane Durham, who had claimed national singles titles and was now working as a coach at the school.

“I went to a mainstream school, and no one had been to the school in a wheelchair before,” said Billingham's Green.

“So, when it came to PE, they did try to get me involved in sport, refereeing, or doing whatever I can do.  

“And then I remember one day it was raining and they didn’t want to just have me sitting out in the rain, so I went to the table tennis hall.

“I was training with Jane Durham who was a teacher there, but she used to play for England when she was younger. She coached me a little bit that first day and said I had good hand-eye coordination and asked me if I liked it.  

“I really enjoyed it, I had always been quite into sport, I have always liked football, I’ve always enjoyed everything to do with sport.

“I got home, and my granddad had played table tennis when he was younger as well so that made me like it even more, so I started training twice a week when I was 11/12.”

From there, Green developed through the ranks, earning selection to the Great Britain development programme at the age of 15.

There he would spend time training alongside international stars who he hopes to emulate.

He added: “I liked the pace of the game and how it was hard work. I liked how intense the training was and the speed of it. And with the fact that my granddad had played before we could play together and we still do, he coaches me quite a lot. So, because he liked it, and I liked it became a joint interest as well which I think really helped.

“I couldn’t have done what I have done if I didn’t have my granddad, if I didn’t have those links with him and links with everyone really I wouldn’t be where I am today.”

Green is currently battling a shoulder injury but is hopeful of making a full recovery in time for the British Championships in November.

He is being ably supported by Swerve Table Tennis Club in Middlesbrough and his coach Steve Brunskill and is also one of 50 athletes supported by a partnership between SportsAid and Pitching In, a multimillion-pound grassroots sport programme established by Entain, owner of Ladbrokes and Coral.

These athletes are Great Britain's brightest sporting prospects. They are nominated to SportsAid by the national governing bodies of more than 60 sports based on set criteria from each. The typical value of a SportsAid award is £1,000 with money generated through a combination of commercial partnerships, trust and charitable funds, and fundraising activities.

For Green, their backing has been the difference between continuing to chase his dreams or leaving the support.

He added “It enables me to go to more tournaments because I struggle to afford it on my own, so it enables me to go to more training sessions and more tournaments.

“And that equals me getting more ranking points and being selected for more things it is pretty essential for my progression.”

Entain, owner of Ladbrokes and Coral, is proud to be championing the next generation of British sporting heroes by providing talented young athletes with financial support and personal development opportunities in partnership with SportsAid. Visit entaingroup.com to find out more.