Cory Eider: Player & Coach

By Mitchell Seidenfeld

Left: Writer/Coach Mitchell Seidenfeld, Cory Eider

Usually, when a young table tennis player is featured as junior of the month, it is because they’ve had a remarkable increase in rating points, established themselves as an up-and-comer, or even more notably, their tournament results demonstrate that they are, indeed, a rising star.

For Cory Eider, none of these categories applies. His rating, in the mid 2100’s, has been flat for over two years. His tournament schedule is hardly packed. And, after a short stint as U.S. #1 in the Under 12’s, his ranking has slid to #6 in the Under 18’s. So what’s the big deal? Why all the hoopla? Well, it’s more interesting than you might think.

When I asked Cory what long-term and short-term goals he has for table tennis, his response was simply, "I don’t have any, really." And when I followed-up by asking if he could recall ever having any goals for his table tennis, he answered, "To beat Eric Green. Yeah, I just wanted to beat Green." That was about nine years ago. Eric Green was the best of a young bunch of local kids who hung out at the Valley Youth Center; a recreation center attached to an elementary school that Cory attended in Duluth, Minnesota. In a matter of months, Eric Green was toast.

Make no mistake; Cory Eider is a competitive monster. When his coaches, Angelo Simone and Gary Hendrickson, brought an eight-year-old Cory to Minneapolis for his first USATT sanctioned tournament, they said he was very goal oriented. In fact, they introduced him as a young hockey star who had scored over one hundred goals a season in pee-wee ice hockey. Now, at seventeen, and a junior at Duluth-Denfeld High School, he is a starting center on the varsity hockey team. Last year, in only his second year of competitive tennis, he played #1 singles for his school and qualified for the state singles tournament. And, if you’re looking for more evidence of his competitive nature, consider this: he’s around 5’ 8" tall, weighs 185 lbs., and is a starting lineman on his high school football team. Of course, that might say more about his high school football team.

His table tennis accomplishments are no less remarkable. He was rated over 2100 before he turned thirteen. He won the Under 14 Junior National Championship and Under 14 Junior Olympic gold medal in 1996. And this summer, at the Junior Olympics in Orlando, he took home a gold medal in the Under 18 Singles, a silver medal in the Under 18 Doubles, and a gold medal in the Under 18 Team Event. He brought home enough hardware to almost justify missing a good part of the summer hockey season. You have to remember, in Duluth, MN, hockey rules.

But this isn’t just the story of a talented, competitive kid from northern Minnesota who likes to play ping pong. Cory’s involvement with the sport, and his becoming a champion are a direct result of the hard work and dedication of three very special people: Angelo Simone, Gary Hendrickson and Sunny Helbacka.

Angelo is a recreation supervisor in the Duluth Park and Recreation Department who, with just one table, introduced the sport to hundreds of kids. When he began working with the kids he was a competent 1650-rated player who enjoyed sharing his knowledge and love of the sport. As the program grew to include between thirty to fifty juniors, practicing two to three times each week on six to eight tables, he became a skillful developmental coach with a rating that topped out at over 1950.

Gary grew up with Angelo in Duluth, and later, moved down to the Minneapolis/St. Paul area. He always dreamed that a day would come when Duluth table tennis would mean more than a few regulars battling it out over beers every Friday at the local tavern. During the years he was living in the twin cities he milked the top players for information, took lessons, and played in leagues and tournaments. He gathered as much technical knowledge as he could, saved his money, and used it to travel back to Duluth on the weekends to share what he had learned with Angelo and the kids. Gary was a 1300 player when the Duluth program began; he is rated 1872 now.

Sunny is the administrator with a heart of gold and a commitment to providing quality youth programs. As Director of the Duluth Park and Recreation Department, Sunny was in a position to make table tennis an official program of the Park and Recreation Department. He was able to raise funds for tournament travel expenses and serve as a much-needed chaperone. Unfortunately for Sunny his rating remains around 1000, exactly where it was when they began.

So even though Cory Eider has a better chance of representing USA Hockey in the Olympics than USA Table Tennis, he is an important kind of U.S. table tennis player. He is an athlete and a competitor. His table tennis skills are the result of a successful recreational program much like our top basketball players, swimmers, and hockey players. Our past and future juniors of the month, those up-and-comers, and rising stars need more Cory Eiders pressing them, pushing them, challenging and checking them. And if you can stay one step ahead of a competitor like Cory Eider, you’re on a very short list.