Changemaker Stories: Renato Walkowiak

For Renato, everything started as a table tennis player, he played competitively and reached what he calls ´a small national level´ in France. In parallel, as a people person, he naturally started getting involved and taking more and more responsibilities within his club at the time:

“At first, I simply opened or closed the hall, started helping younger groups. Slowly I realised I was more interested in transmitting what I knew and helping the club life than trying to get better as a player even though I love playing. I started working towards certifications and one day the Levallois club asked my club if they knew anyone who could fit the position of club development. At the time I had never thought of doing this professionally, I never thought of being a coach for the rest of my life. When the opportunity came, it was clear to me I wanted to do that.”

For most of the following 10-15 years, Renato focussed on club development, development of new practises, reaching new members, having an impact on the community, and growing the network. Maybe this influenced his vision of a club:

“I have always seen the club as part of the community, something for everyone. One of the big challenges for a lot of clubs is to have an offer where people can find what they are looking for, their level, build relationships, so it's tough to find the balance between performance and leisure. In Levallois, it’s a bit different to a lot of other clubs, we have 80% members that are recreational players, so it helps us to have support when we want to do other projects that target diverse groups in the community, because it's part of our DNA.”

Renato is now club manager, so he takes care of a lot more administration, but one of his priorities is also to make sure people don’t feel as they are part of a big club, that doesn’t care about the human side. He strongly believes that people make the club, so he works hard to develop projects and ensure people feel part of a small, nurturing and fun community.

“The most important part for us is the club life, it has to be rich in social interaction and a positive weekly experience.”

“We want to offer weekly table tennis sessions to persons with Alzheimer’s disease, to offer them a drug free, fun and social treatment that can help slow the progression of the disease and improve the quality of life. Above this, we want to partner with France Alzheimer’s and combine our expertise to make it a national project accessible to all clubs interested.”

"We have seen the bond and the positive environment it creates, even during Covid-19 we had some online calls to check in, that's how close everyone has become, and the caregivers are really involved – it really feels like a nice community."

“The first advice: I would give is to believe 100% in what you want to do and give everything, to understand it is something they want to do and give everything.

The second advice is I would start with research, so you know what you are talking about and can make the connections when you meet the relevant people and know what they are talking about. Research what exists, who can help, what evidence there is, and start developing the project in your head and understand the project you want to do well, not the details but the main lines.

Finally, you must speak. Don't stop speaking about your dream, your idea, your project. Gradually, you will meet people who can help or who know someone, and it works because a project like this, it's about people, and one person cannot do it alone… you need people, it is for people, and only with people you will get it done. So yes, speak, you should speak with as many people as possible until you have what you need to start. Projects take resources (time, energy, people, money, equipment, etc.). So, even if you start small, if you know where you are going, what you want, be patient and keep sharing the dream step by step, but it's not a 9-17 job… it’s a lifestyle, it’s an internal need to do and change something that takes over. In the end, it must give you joy.”