gilbert simons

I agree that table tennis should be built from the ground up.
But starting with the kids won't succeed. You have to start with the adults.
And there are almost 20 million adults still playing table tennis at the
recreational and casual level.

If you can hook them (and the 11-point system and the bell-curve ranking
system have discouraged them from doing so), then they will join, and will
bring their children into the sport.

Soccer which I played all my youth was also a non-sport in the U.S. when I
came here. The success of the sport did not come about from the children. It
came about from their immigrant parents! Later, even American-born parents
became hooked, and brought their children into the sport.

The same happened in my San Diego club. The parents were the key, and soon
there were 400 members, who brought their children with them.

Chess is an example of a children-focused activity. Parents who don't play
push their children into chess to keep them off the street and to keep their
minds active (both laudable goals). But an official from the Chess


year to replace them. A perpetual washout and not a prescription for
success. After a hundred years they are at 80,000 members, with constant
bickering, with prize money coming from entry fees, no prestige.

Gilbert Simons
http://www.gsimons.com

elprup

I suppose this way would work, but HOW are adults going to become attracted to table tennis. To
them, it was a novelty game they played once in a while in their or their friend's ba*****t when
they were young. When attempting to attract new players, there's a much greater chance of getting
children to find the sport fun, entertaining, competitive, and exhilarating more so than adults.
Most children attend schools. So, an organized, structured program at school is the key.

ajain17

Image is everything. Sport is nothing.

sgordon

: success. After a hundred years they are at 80,000 members, with constant
: bickering, with prize money coming from entry fees, no prestige.

I saw chess on ESPN last night.

However, the national association (USCF) is in a mismanaged shambles.
The recent magazine is about 1/4 the size of previous issues, and the
first article was a desparate state-of-the-association address indicating
that the mismanagement has led to a cripplingly deep debt that made it
almost impossible to get anyone to even do the printing!

Scott

sgordon

Indeed! And right now it's a stuffy looking sport where players
wear boring or even ugly clothes. Table tennis should follow the
models of tennis and basketball, where top players make fashion
statements. Relax the dress code!

Scott

leparulo

I have to respectfully disagree with you. I think it is about both. I
understand your point about the parents, because it is their dollars
funding the practices, leagues and tournaments that their kids will go
to, but you have to make it something that these kids will think is
"cool" to play and practice. One has to push the image that playing
table tennis is something that everyone does and that everyone CAN do.

Getting the 20 million adults that currently play purple pips ping
pong as I like to call it is also important. If only we had the answer
to that question. I know for the research I have done on my end, that
I always get more ppl to play in an unsanctioned tournament then a
USATT tournament. It is like the professional name of USATT scares
everyone away...I don't understand it personally.

elprup

"FSU Table Tennis: Willy Leparulo" <leparulo@lis.fsu.edu> wrote in message news:b80479a8.0311170957.7077d474@posting.google.c om...

The USATT name scares them away because they think it's the "real deal" (which it is) and they
don't want to show up and embarrass themselves. If I would have felt like this some years ago, I
never would've stepped foot in a club. Instead, after many years of ba*****t play my friend and I
showed up thinking we were going to beat everybody; we had no idea what was in store!

caccobio10

Kasparov vs. the machine, it was excellent, great commentary, etc., but I
didn't get to watch the whole thing. I know Gary lost the first 2 games,
did he win on sunday?
m

chicovesence

hey marco...you know why there hasnt been any italians on the
moon?,...................they ran out of scaffolding....
thank you, thank you....love this room Chico Youngman